Know-it-all knowledge about enzymes (42)

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… enzymes improve the taste and the digestibility of proteins?

Protein hydrolysates find numerous applications in nutrition. They are used for better digestibility in convalescence foods or animal feeds, or in hypoallergenic foods such as baby food thanks to their lower allergenicity. The controlled hydrolysis is also used for the formation of savoury flavours, for example for soy or fish sauces or comparable seasoning sauces.

The degradation of proteins is classically performed by fermentation and the enzymes involved in this process. However, the conversion can be achieved considerably faster by hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid - with the risk of the formation of potentially harmful by-products.

For Japanese soy sauce, for instance, thermally sterilised soy and wheat meal are fermented with two mould cultures for at least six months. Among the moulds is an "old acquaintance", Aspergillus oryzae, which is also used for the production of various enzymes for food processing. The other mould is closely related and is called Aspergillus sojae. They produce a number of proteases as well as amylase, which in the course of fermentation ensure the formation of the savoury-sweet taste.

The addition of exogenous enzymes accelerates or even replaces classical fermentation without the formation of 3-MCPD. This process is used, for example, for the production of hypoallergenic baby food.

Endo-peptidases (= endo-proteases) are required for a quick breakdown of the proteins into peptides, and exo-proteases continue the work towards small peptides and even amino acids, thereby also reducing potential bitter-tasting peptides.

If enzymatic hydrolysis is replaced by acid hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid, the process can be even faster and cheaper. However, there is a possibility that 3-MCPD (3-chloropropane-1,2-diol), which can cause cancer, may be produced as a by-product.