FTI REPORT R-02:

ADVANCES IN ENZYME TECHNOLOGY
FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY

A sourcebook on technologies with commercial potential

Revised & Updated for 2006

Highlights;

• Canning technique uses enzyme to keep cooked vegetables crispy.
• Enzymes cut cholesterol content of foods.
• Maize enzymes digest insoluble plant products
• Enzymes find use as bromate substitutes.

On almost a daily basis, new developments such as these in the field of enzymology are emerging from research labs around the world. As you know, enzymes are used in foods and beverages to improve processing efficiency and the quality of finished products. But enzymes have a greater potential.

Food Technology Intelligence, Inc., publisher of the international monthly newsletter Emerging Food R&D Report, offers a revised and updated in-depth report analyzing several new developments in enzyme research. The report will give you a first-hand look at many commercially-viable enzymatic-based processes that have practical food applications. Many of these technologies are available for licensing from their developers; in other cases, scientists are seeking industrial support to help commercialize them in the near term.

Why all the interest in enzymes? New advances in enzymatic processing hold even more significant potential for the food industry. For example, biocatalysis, the use of enzymes to cause precise modifications of substances, has several advantages over alternative chemical processing.

Enzymes operate under mild reactions and afford high specificity, yielding purer products than those that are the result of chemical synthesis. Biocatalysis often affects natural flavors and colors less than nonenzymatic processes do. Of course, foods often contain naturally occurring enzymes that cause the foods to degrade. It may be possible to develop ingredients that inhibit this enzymatic activity and improve shelf life and other sensory qualities of a product.

An Opportunity To Learn

Now you have an opportunity to learn more about several enzyme-based technologies under development at universities, companies and government research labs that will help you advance your company’s own work in the field. This report reviews key processes and highlights significant data, including the potential applications for each process, its status of development, and when it will be commercially available.

You’ll also learn how to take advantage of these technologies, either through licensing or other collaborative arrangements, so that you can use them commercially before your competitors do. Learn about several developments, including:

• A canning process that uses lower-than-normal cooking temperatures, a brief holding period and naturally-occurring plant tissue enzyme, pectin methylesterase, to reverse the softening effects of cooking. Look to apply this technique to many canned vegetables. Licenses are available.

• Aprocess that uses cholesterol reductase to cut the cholesterol content of products. The enzyme reacts with cholesterol and converts it to coprostanol, a sterol that passes through the body when consumed. Industrial support is sought.

• Three enzymes have been isolated from maize that digest insoluble plant products composed of complex xylans, feraxan or ferulated arabinoxylan. Applications include biomass degradation and modification of insoluble plant products to soluble substances.
Available for licensing.

• Blends of enzymes are finding growing use as bromate substitutes in baking applications. Companies are starting to market these enzymes and are looking to work with others to tailor them to specific applications. Advances in Enzyme Technology for the Food Industry will enable you to track important developments in applied enzyme research. This report will help you establish key contacts with researchers and learn about projects that will help you and your company stay competitive. Return your completed order form today.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary
   Perspective
   The Realm of Potential Applications
   Hydrolysis/Synthesis
   Removing Undesirable Compounds
   Baking
   Conclusions
   Methodology and Scope of Report
   
2. Analysis of New Technologies
   • Fruits and Vegetables
     Food-canning Technique Uses Enzyme To Keep Cooked Vegetables Crispy
     Control Enzymes To Improve Vegetable Flavor, Quality
     Vacuum Infusion of Plant Enzyme Maintains Fruit Texture, Mouthfeel
     Lipooxygenase May Be More Appropriate for Some Vegetable Blanching
   • Cholesterol Reduction
     Use Enzymes To Cut Cholesterol Content of Foods
     Microbial Enzymes Reduce Cholesterol Content of Beef Fat
   • Sweeteners
     Low- or Noncaloric Carbohydrate Polymers from Beet or Cane Sugar
     Enzyme Synthesizes Artificial Sweeteners
   • Agriculture
     Enzymes Extract Proteins from Rice Bran Efficiently
     Rice Breeding Gets Marker Assistance
     Apply Starch-modifying Amylomaltases
     Maize Enzymes
     Enzymes Convert Corn Fiber to Xylitol
     Enhance Cyclodextrin Production by Using Debranching Enzymes
     Enzymatic Hydrolysis Makes Corn Gluten Meal More Soluble
     Using Enzymes To Improve Whey Protein Gelation
     Oats as Lipase Bioreactors
     Enzymatic Phosphorylation to Extend Solubility of Soy Proteins
     Cocoa Butter Substitute from Cottonwood and Olive Oils
     Enzymes in Microaqueous Media Hold Potential for Lipid Modification, Flavor
     Generation
     Filtering Inhibits Enzymatic Browning in Juices
   • Dairy
     Enzyme to Reduce Bitterness in Cheese
     High Pressures Increase Cheese Yield
     Optimize Cheese’s Ability to Retain Its Flavor
     Brevibacteria Increase Cheese Flavor
     Investigate New Uses for Lactose
     Use Plasmid Curing To Construct Foodgrade Starter Culture
     Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Low-phenylanine Skim Milk Powder
     Increase Cheese Yield Using Recombinant Chymosin as a Milk-clotting Enzyme
     Peptides Control Emulsion Strength, Stability
     Fat-like Perception Enhancer
     Coagulating Enzyme Improves Appearance of Skim Milk
   • Baking
     Enzymes: Key Formulation Tools for Bakers
     Enzymes Substitute for Bromate
     Enzyme Mix Slows Staling of Baked Goods
     Enzymes Improve Bread Dough Quality

   Enzymatically Modify Gluten to Improve Its Functional Properties
   Proteolytic Enzymes Limited as Predictors of Beef, Pork Quality
   Use Enzymes to Catalyze Synthesis of Low-calorie Triglycerides
   Tapping Marine Enzymes for Use in Products
   Genetically Engineer an Industrially-useful Fungal Lipase
   Apply Enzymes and Glycobiology to Product Development
   Enzymatic Route to Flavors Is Alternative to Acid Hydrolysis
   Cyclodextrins Optimize Renaturing of Enzymes
   Enzymes Improve Juice Yields
   Investigations of Extremophiles May Lead to Highly Stable Enzymes
   Novel Enzyme Infusion Technique Uses Positive Pressure
   Infrared Dry Blanching Offers Alternative to Steam, Water or Microwave Blanching
   Enzymatic Treatment Form Resistant Starch from Rice

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