The importance of enzymes in modern food biotechnology
Introduction:
The use of enzymes outside their natural environment in food technology gets more and more important. Although the application of enzymes as food additives or in processing raw materials has been used since a long time, it gets more and more popular and also crucial for many processes. Especially because enzymes are labelled with the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) tag, they are very desirable for industries and also consumers to use to convert raw materials into end products. Therefore, many chemicals, which could be harmful to the human body are replaced by enzymes or are tried to be replaced through the discovery of adequate enzymes. Enzymes can serve several functions, …show more content…
Some of the currently used enzymes come from plants or animals, but the major source of enzymes are microorganisms. The purpose of this essay is to describe some of the most important areas of operation of enzymes in food biotechnology and to get an overview over the variability of enzymes. (Porta, et al., 2011)
Use of various enzymes in different areas of operation:
Starch processing, sugar industry:
One of the most important process in food biotechnology is starch processing. Starch consists of amylose and amylopectin. They are built of glucose molecules, the only difference is the linkage between this molecules. Starch processing is used to convert starch originating from maize, wheat or potatoes into disaccharides or monosaccharides. A very big area of operation is the production of High Fructose Corn Syrup (High Fructose Corn Syrup). Three different enzymes are used in the processing of corn to the HFCS end product. The first step in HFCS production, which involves an enzyme, is liquefaction. The used enzyme is an alpha-amylase. The purpose of this enzyme is to convert the starch slurry into shorter-chain-length dextrins. The …show more content…
They are hydrolytic enzymes, which play a major role in plant cell wall degrading. Xylanases can convert insoluble hemicellulose into water soluble parts, which can then bind water. Arabinoxylan is one of these hemicelluloses, which makes out 2-5% of flour. Even though it is only a small amount, it accounts for almost 30% of the water binding capacity and is therefore a very important component. That increases bread volume, decreases the firmness of the dough and finer crumbs are formed. Also the dough gets more machine-friendly and is therefore easier to handle. The characteristics of xylanases also depend on their origin, endoxylanases of Bacillus subtilis have different abilities than ones of Aspergillus niger. They can be used as an alternative to emulsifiers. (Butt, et al., 2008), (Collins, et al.,
Introduction:
The use of enzymes outside their natural environment in food technology gets more and more important. Although the application of enzymes as food additives or in processing raw materials has been used since a long time, it gets more and more popular and also crucial for many processes. Especially because enzymes are labelled with the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) tag, they are very desirable for industries and also consumers to use to convert raw materials into end products. Therefore, many chemicals, which could be harmful to the human body are replaced by enzymes or are tried to be replaced through the discovery of adequate enzymes. Enzymes can serve several functions, …show more content…
Some of the currently used enzymes come from plants or animals, but the major source of enzymes are microorganisms. The purpose of this essay is to describe some of the most important areas of operation of enzymes in food biotechnology and to get an overview over the variability of enzymes. (Porta, et al., 2011)
Use of various enzymes in different areas of operation:
Starch processing, sugar industry:
One of the most important process in food biotechnology is starch processing. Starch consists of amylose and amylopectin. They are built of glucose molecules, the only difference is the linkage between this molecules. Starch processing is used to convert starch originating from maize, wheat or potatoes into disaccharides or monosaccharides. A very big area of operation is the production of High Fructose Corn Syrup (High Fructose Corn Syrup). Three different enzymes are used in the processing of corn to the HFCS end product. The first step in HFCS production, which involves an enzyme, is liquefaction. The used enzyme is an alpha-amylase. The purpose of this enzyme is to convert the starch slurry into shorter-chain-length dextrins. The …show more content…
They are hydrolytic enzymes, which play a major role in plant cell wall degrading. Xylanases can convert insoluble hemicellulose into water soluble parts, which can then bind water. Arabinoxylan is one of these hemicelluloses, which makes out 2-5% of flour. Even though it is only a small amount, it accounts for almost 30% of the water binding capacity and is therefore a very important component. That increases bread volume, decreases the firmness of the dough and finer crumbs are formed. Also the dough gets more machine-friendly and is therefore easier to handle. The characteristics of xylanases also depend on their origin, endoxylanases of Bacillus subtilis have different abilities than ones of Aspergillus niger. They can be used as an alternative to emulsifiers. (Butt, et al., 2008), (Collins, et al.,