BIO-PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES-HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Two of the most prevalent technological options for the food industry to process raw food materials into preserved or consumable products are chemical conversion or physical methods. Food technologists adapt various chemical engineering unit operations to food processing where generally no deliberate chemical reactions are involved. In contrast very few chemical reactions are in vogue in processing foods as the intention of processing is to preserve every nutrients, which are all chemicals with different molecular structure, as far as possible for delivery to the consumer. Of course there are unintentional consequences of processing, especially at temperatures above the ambient one and reactions involving amino acids, sugar, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, etc are unavoidable. Some of these reactions are considered desirable while many others are unacceptable as far as the consumer is concerned. Maillard reaction that progressively yields brown chemical artifacts are liked in products like baked foods while undesirable color tints imparted due this very same reaction is sought to be stopped, especially in products with natural white color. Use of chemicals like preservatives, emulsifiers, stabilizers, antioxidants etc which are chemicals, some of them natural and others synthetic cannot make these foods chemically processed.

Physical processes like flour milling, grain polishing, flaking, puffing, popping, sugar recovery from cane, milk pasteurization, oil seed crushing and many others invariably depend on mechanical operations and temperature rise is very minimal. Of course there are high temperature processes like baking, coffee roasting, coco bean processing, extrusion cooking, canning, frying, cooking, grilling etc but temperatures generally do not exceed 200C. One of the unavoidable consequences of food processing or cooking is that there is a loss of nutrients like vitamins and others, thermally unstable, which varies from process to process and product to product. The fortification and enrichment technologies help the industry to make up for the nutrient losses albeit to a limited extent. Still the consumer is always skeptical about the healthiness of many products going through the industrial manufacturing hubs. Frozen foods are invariably preferred because of the perception that at sub-zero temperatures nutrients are stabilized, reducing the possibility of spoilage considerably. Besides these foods have relatively long shelf life that enables consumers to store them at home.

Fermented foods which are derived by the action of beneficial microorganisms belong to a group of products evolved historically over centuries of human civilization. Wine with a history of thousands of years are made from grapes and other high sugar fruits using yeast as the "biological converter". Same is true with regard to Beer made by fermentation from grains and hops. Products derived by fermentation of grains, fruits, molasses etc and after subsequent physical processing yield many established lines of product like Whiskey, Gin, Rum, Vodka, etc. The simplicity of yeast fermentation lends itself to house hold preparation of wines while the flourishing existence of illicit liquor making industry reflects the ease with which yeast fermented products can be made with minimum facilities. Another classical example is bread making where again yeast is involved under aerobic conditions. Then there are many other products like yogurt, cheese, Indian idli and dosa and a hundred other products made and eaten in over 70 countries of the world. One thing in common with all these products is that all of them involve use of one or more microorganisms with assured safety.

There are many processes employed by the food industry using enzyme preparations derived from microorganisms, plant and animal sources and by no stretch of imagination the end products can be called fermented foods. Conversion of starch into sugars catalyzed by amylase and amylo glucosidase enzymes or manufacture of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) through Glucose Isomerase or making Pectinase clarified fruit juices or tenderizing of meat using Papain and many such enzyme mediated processing cannot be classified as fermentation process. Similarly there is an important emerging area that has great relevance to food preservation and that is Bacteriocin class of Bio-preservatives obtained from safe bacterial species. Foods which can be preserved by these natural antibiotic substances will have to be considered as partly "Bioprocessed". Probably it would be more appropriate, when natural microorganisms and the derived enzymes from them or plant and animal based enzymes are used in preservation or conversion, if they are called Bioprocessed foods. Bioprocessing is relevant even to many non-food products also and one of the most promising areas for using this process is in the energy sector where non-food biomass is sought to be converted into readily usable energy forms like alcohol. 

V.H.POTTY
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MEAT "GLUE"- A PROCESSING AID OR AN ADDITIVE?

The age-old conflict between the food processing industry and the consumer revolves around the excessive zeal for profit by the corporate manufacturers often compromising on quality, value and safety. Basically a consumer, when in a super market, look for a product with following considerations. First it must be safe to consume. Second it must have quality that reflects purity, originality and sensory pleasure. Third the product must reveal the real ingredients, special process if used and the nutritional dimension. Last but not the least the product should not be an imitation one made from inferior components, being positioned as original. Though responsible food quality and monitoring agencies world over try their best to strike a balance between the conflicting interests of these two stake holders, it is rarely that they cover themselves with glory because of many factors, some beyond their control and others influenced by the environment within which they have to work. The widespread criticism against the FDA of the US for allowing unrestricted use of GM foods in that country is a classical example. Bowing to pressure from industry as well as the political class, many GM products with doubtful safety credentials are flooding the market with no label differentiation from normally produced foods.

Recent call by a minister in Germany exhorting the industry to be more transparent in their labeling of processed foods is some what intriguing because government has the authority to make the industry truthful through enormous executive power vested with them but do not exercise this for the benefit of their citizens. In fact the same minister went so far as to call upon the consumer community to set up an "Internet pillory" to name and shame food processors who do not live up to their claims and promises! If this is not shirking responsibility by the elected representatives for protecting citizens' interests, what else it can be? The provocation for such an outburst came when many industrial players were indulging in secrecy by not properly declaring what their products contain and what processes they are using so that consumer is in the know of what he is eating. The issue got attention when meat processors were found to use enzyme systems like transglutaminase, thrombin and fibrogen and similar preparations to upgrade low quality meat into products that resembled genuine original products.

Transglutaminase belongs to the family of clotting enzymes which are eight in number, all playing definite roles in human body functions. They are actively associated with blood coagulation, skin development and functions of prostate gland, testis and lungs. These enzymes catalyze the formation of co-valent bonds between a free amino group in a protein or peptide containing Lysine and the gamma carboxylic group of another protein containing glutamine. Bonds so formed are relatively strong and resist normal proteolytic enzyme degradation. Such bonded larger protein polymers are insoluble n nature giving it a property of resisting disintegration. They are ideally suited for production of larger meat pieces from pieces. improving texture of sausages and hot dogs, imitation crab products, improved quality products from low quality meats and in a variety of application including making of milk and yogurt creamers, noodles from ground meat and fish balls. The enzyme preparation can be obtained from Bovine and porcine sources besides through fermentation using some strains of bacteria.

Invariably industry justifies use of these so called meat glues because they are used only during processing and resist declaring it in the label obviously maintaining that it is not a part of the formulation of the product. While technically they are correct, the fact still remains that the so called processing aid stays right there in the final product.which certainly requires declaration for the information of the consumer. The EU parliament deserves kudos for its stand on the subject when it recently banned use of Thrombin+Fibrogen based meat glue preparation in meat products, finding insufficient justification for the proposal from the industry. Probably use of such so called glues could e permitted if proper label declarations are made..

V.H.POTTY

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NATURAL MALTING VS ENZYME MEDIATED MALTS

The technology of malting involves soaking of the grains, sprouting under high humidity conditions, drying and processing to remove the vegetative parts. Grain legumes and cereals are generally sprouted for preparing malted products. While green malt preparations are rich in enzymes used in the production of brewed alcoholic beverages, the kilned version is more commonly made for the food industry as a flavor ingredient in various foods like beverages, breakfast cereals, bakery goods etc. Barley is the most commonly used cereal since it has characteristic flavor and produces high levels of various enzymes on germination, ideal for getting good quality products. Some of the important enzymes produced during sprouting include alpha-amylase, beta-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, limit dextrinase, endopeptidase and endo-beta glucanase.

The malt desired for many applications is generally kilned at lower temperatures of about 60-65C while that demanded by distillers goes through a higher temperature of 85C. The pale malt has higher enzyme activity while dark malts contains only about 30% of the original enzyme activity. When malt is used for yeast fermentation, the sugars generated provide energy while the hydrolyzed protein products, as a result of the protease reaction, support yeast growth to produce alcohol. Beta glucanase enzyme modifies the insoluble polysaccharides into smaller molecular weight soluble components that helps to increase the viscosity very significantly. Beer products are valued for their color, flavor, bitterness derived from hops, viscosity and frothiness. Hard liquors like brandy and whiskey are made by distilling the alcohol produced during yeast fermentation and volatile constituents that come along with the alcohol give them their characteristic flavors

Manufacture of malt extract, an important flavor material for food industry is made from malted cereals. The combined malt amylolytic enzymes convert the insoluble starch present in the cereal into dextran and maltose while proteolytic enzymes hydrolyze proteins into peptides and amino acids. Aqueous extract so obtained is evaporated to get a viscous mass with about 78-80% solids. Spray drying yields malt extract powder or dry malt extract which will not contain any enzyme activity. In contrast dry malt obtained after sprouting, removal of sproutings, drying and coarse grinding under low temperature conditions, possess the characteristic enzyme activity so necessary for the liquor industry. Dextrin malt, caramel malt and black malt are made by heating to different extent and they have 53-63% reducing sugar, mainly maltose and 4.5 to 5.6% protein substances. Diastatic malt products like malt syrups have 60-72% reducing sugars and 1.8 to 3.5% proteins besides varying enzyme activities. Malt extract and syrups find use in more than 100 different food products including ice cream, baked goods like bread, biscuits and crackers, icings and fillings, malted milk and pastry.

As the malting operations involving several steps extending over at least 3-4 days for a batch to be completed, industry is severely handicapped in raising the productivity to meet the rising demand. The challenge is to make the process continuous and though technically it should be possible, the investment requirement will be astronomical while infrastructure requirement is mind-boggling. One of the alternate options available is to evolve a process that will use industrial enzymes commercially available to imitate the natural changes characteristic of natural malting. All enzymes identified as involved in malting like alpha and beta amylases, peptidases, beta glucanase and others are commercially produced by several internationally reputed biotech companies. Already some manufacturers of liquors have been able to reduce the barley needs for breweries by 70% using commercial enzymes and save considerably on time and cost. Biochemical engineers have studied the reaction kinetics of these enzymes and optimal working conditions are already well known. Continuous bio-reactors of different capacities with precise control of reaction conditions, are available to day and malt preparations of various specifications can be made continuously using them.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/