ENZYMES IN THE FOOD

INDUSTRY

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 1

FOUNDAMENTALS OF ENZYME
ACTIVITY
 Is a protein with catalytic properties due
to its power of specific activation
 Not all biological molecules capable of
catalytic activity are proteins – RNA
molecules
 Enzymes of current and foreseeable use
in food industry are proteins hence
definition above will remain in use

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 2

FOUNDAMENTALS OF ENZYME
ACTIVITY
 Enzyme remains unaltered at the end of
the reaction
 Does not mean the enzyme plays an inert
role. Any alterations are reversible –
intermediate complexes
 Enzymes are not used up in the reaction
but can be used over and over again –
turnover number

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 3

FOUNDAMENTALS OF ENZYME
ACTIVITY
 Many enzyme reactions do not proceed
under general environmental conditions
 There is always need to be energized to
reach the intermediate stage – “energy of
activation” –heating
 Enzymes are very specific in their
reactions (lock and key) Fischer model of
stereo specific link between enzyme and
substrate
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 4
FOUNDAMENTALS OF ENZYME
ACTIVITY
 Specificity may be demonstrated in
structurally similar compounds – glucose
oxidase – D-glucose into D- gluconate. 2
deoxy – D- glucose 25% while 6-methyl
D-glucose -2%
 Some other are more specific for bonds
occurring in similar molecules – α
amylase for α- linkages between adjacent
glucose units in starch. Cellulase for β-
linkages in glucose in cellulose

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 5

FOUNDAMENTALS OF ENZYME
ACTIVITY
Enzymes important in food are mainly
hydrolases
ENZYME KINETICS
Enzyme reactions are directly
proportional to enzyme concentration
Not always the case – inhibitors (heavy
metal ions) or dissociable activator, the
curve is not linear but curved upward

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 6

 ENZYME KINETICS
 Downward curve – saturation at higher
rates, inhibitors or essential co- factors
 Over time, the relationship is not linear
and a decline sets in. Time for decline
varies with enzymes from few minutes to
hours
 Beneficial if the enzyme presence in the
product is undesirable
 Explanation is substrate depletion

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 7

 ENZYME KINETICS
 Other reasons are – inhibition by product,
enzyme inhibition by instability in enzyme
Substrate concentration
 Obviously dependent on substrate
concentration. The velocity is not linear
 Reason is enzyme forms a one to one
stoichiometric complex with substrate. Its
only this complex can be broken down.
Increase in substrate concentration
saturates the enzyme
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 8
 ENZYME KINETICS
 Environmental conditions – temperature, pH,
ionic strength and moisture
 Rate of reactions increases with increase in
temperature
 Heat used to denature endogenous deleterious
enzymes – blanching
 Bell shaped – higher temperatures denature the
enzymes
 Low freezing temperatures – lipases
 Enzymes capable of renaturing after heating
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 9
ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Enzymes play a vital role in food industry
 Cheese and brewing rely on enzyme
activity in various stages of processing
 Trial and error been able to optimize
conditions –malting, resting animals prior
to slaughter
 Traditional products like yoghurt depend
on enzymes –but whole organisms

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 10

ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Whole organisms give characteristic
notes in the product that can not be
achieved by purified enzymes
 Enzymes used may be endogenous like in
amylase in mashing, or in yoghurt
Accessibility of substrate by enzymes
 Some enzymes found free in cytoplasm
but many are bound to membrane and
almost in contact with substrate
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 11
ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 If exogenous enzymes are to be used =
cross the membrane barrier. Intact
membranes are impermeable to large
molecules like exogenous enzymes
 Tenderization of meat – not able to effect
CT unless during cooking, penetration –
dips, injections prior to slaughter

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 12

ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
Reaction conditions
 Enzyme reactions occur not under ideal
conditions (temperature, substrate, pH) .
It is difficult to predict the amount of
enzyme required
 Substrate concentration is another
problem of applying biochemical criteria-
commercial enzymes operate at 50-100oC
as opposed to 25oC
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 13
ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Physical factors affect enzyme action, Cf
reaction rates in solution and those that
are bound to membranes
Sources of enzymes
 Most organisms have certain core
enzymes – Embden Meyerhof pathway,
amylase in human saliva and seeds
potential source

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 14

ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Others are specific- nitrogen fixing,
allilinase in onions – precursor for
peptide breaking – release sulphur
containing volatiles –aroma – limited
source
 Animals have produced some enzymes for
food and medical purposes – rennin
stomach of pre- weaned calves. Problem
wasteful and emotive. Alternative is
microbial derived.
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 15
ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY

 Animal and plant sources – impracticable

Legal and safety implications
 Legal status depends on application-
enzymes left in product which are not
found in food proper regulated as
additives
 Consumers view of food and risk. Air
ticket, food in airport café.

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 16

ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Cause allergies if in powder –solutions
 Injurious to health – in stomach- attacking
body tissue
 Microbial and fungal –toxins (consumer
view)
Use of enzymes in meat
 Found their use in tenderization of meat
 Dates back in 500yrs ago when Mexican
Indians wrapped meat in papaya leaves
during cooking
4th Veterinary Students Lecture 17
ENZYMES IN FOOD INDUSTRY
 Enzyme causing tenderization –papain –
cysteine proteases (ficin and bromelain)
 Introduction of these exogenous enzymes
 Use of bacterial collagenases during cooking
 Endogenous enzymes ( Cathepsin Band D and
CAF)
 Mechanically Recovered meat -15-40% of bone
weight –used in soups and gravies (bacterial
Alcalase and neutrase) or animal feeds

4th Veterinary Students Lecture 18