Enzyme Utilization in the Food Industry

Enzyme-catalyzed reactions in food processing have been used unintentionally since ancient times. The enzymes are either an integral part of the food or are obtained from microorganisms. Addition of enriched or purified enzyme preparations of animal, plant or, especially, microbial origin is a recent practice. Most of these enzymes come from microorganisms, which have been genetically modified in view of their economic production. Such intentionally used 

---

Other efforts in the food industry have ben made to utilize immobilized enzymes. One is to use cellulose from waste paper, wood chips, or sugar cane, degrade it to glucose, and convert this sugar unit back to starch, as edible material. All these processes are enzyme-catalyzed and should be applicable to enzyme technology. 

Enzymes are the catalysts evolved in nature to achieve the speed and coordination of a multitude of chemical reaction necessary to develop and maintain life. Chemical reactions are far too slow to be effective under the conditions prevalent in normal living systems - aqueous environments with neutral pH values and temperatures between 20 and 40 °C. Even catalysts developed in the chemical industry fall short enzymes in comparison achieve up to 107 - fold faster reaction rates. Mankind has utilized enzymes empirically since ancient times for the conservation or production of food, e. g. in cheese making or brewing. A historical background is given in Table 1-1. The catalytic properties of enzymes were recognized long before their chemical nature was known. We stil. use acceleration of reaction rate to search for unknown enzymes as well as to measure and quantify enzyme activity. 

This review has shown that most studies on barley starches have been focused on understanding the fine structures, particle size distribution, chemical composition, gelatinization properties and susceptibility towards enzyme hydrolysis. However, there is a dearth of information on the rheological and retrogradation characteristics of barley starches from different cultivars. Furthermore, the response of small and large barley starch granules towards physical and chemical modification needs investigation. Research in the above areas is underway in our laboratories. It is hoped that this study may improve the utilization of different types of barley starches for specific products within the food and paper industry. 

---