Enzymatic Transformations in Food Chemistry

The use of enzymes in food processing represents a historically well-established approach that gets its deepest roots in thousands of years BC. In fact, even in an unconscious way, the mankind always applied enzyme- based bioprocesses for example in beer brewing, bread baking, and cheese and wine making. Nevertheless, throughout the centuries, process improvement or design and implementation of novel approaches has been consistently performed, and especially in recent years, significant advances in protein engineering and biocatalyst design have been achieved and applied in food sector. Consequently, an updated overview regarding the applications of enzymes in the food sector and of progresses made, namely, within the scope of obtainment of more efficient biocatalysts through structural modification, protein engineering and immobilization of enzymes will be provided. The main scope of targeted improvements deal with the technological aspects related to the most representative strategies to achieve enzymes with enhanced thermal and operational stability, improved specific activity, modification of pH-activity profiles, and increased product specificity, among others.