Enzymes in Food Production

The use of enzymes in the food industry is very different compared to their use in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries. Firstly, the use of separately added enzymes is legally restricted for safety reasons and the EU regulation describes an authorization requirement for such food enzymes. Secondly, the food enzymes have to be cheap since the foods are cheap and traded in weight and not in performance as it is the case with high-priced pharmaceuticals or chemicals. Thus, the production of new food enzymes is most often done recombinantly using suitable host microorganisms. The food enzymes have to be active and stable in presence of highly complex food compositions during food processing but, on the other hand, they have to be easily inactivated by technical means. The conditions of the particular food manufacturing determine the conditions for the enzymatic reaction and cannot be adjusted to the enzyme’s requirements due to the food law. So, enzymes with a broad tolerance in pH, temperature, and ionic strength of the settings are beneficial. In this chapter important examples of application are presented for main enzyme classes EC 1–6 according to the scientific classification of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). For example, lipases are used in the production of certain cheese products and varieties or margarines, and glycosidases (e.g., β-galactosidases = lactases) are used in the production of lactose-free milk or prebiotic galactooligosaccharides (GOS). Peptidases (e.g., chymosin = rennin) are required, for example, for milk thickening in cheese production, and various microbial peptidases are required for protein hydrolysates of specialty foods (e.g., baby foods, sports foods) and food seasonings. The best-known isomerase converts d-glucose intramolecularly to d-fructose up to equilibrium, is used immobilized and is used for the production of sugar syrup for soft drinks and other foods on a million-ton scale. New isomerases (cellobiose 2-epimerases) can directly convert lactose found in milk to lactulose and epilactose, two potentially prebiotic sugars. All examples make it clear that the targeted use of enzymes can positively change the properties of food and thus achieve higher quality and added value of the products in terms of their shelf life and texture, taste, and physiological functionality.