NEW REVIEW ARTICLE: Crosslinking Food Proteins for Improved Functionality

Saturday, 01 May 2010 16:30

Possibilities for protein crosslinking in cereal, dairy, meat, and fish processing to improve the texture and the structure of the product were extensively reviewed by Buchert et al. The special emphasis was on the enzymatic modifications over physico-chemical methods.

Novel, potential enzymes for protein crosslinking include various oxidative enzymes as most of the current commercial applications rely on exploitation of transglutaminases. However, the reaction mechanisms of the oxidative enzymes on proteins are dissimilar, which in turn result in different technological properties.

Food structure is a very important sensory property that affects consumer choices and food stability. Enzymatic crosslinking of food proteins is an attractive structure engineering method because of the specificity of enzymes and mild reaction conditions.

Transglutaminases, tyrosinases, laccases and sulfhydryl oxidases catalyze cross-link formation directly between reactive groups, but peroxidises needs an electron acceptor to oxidize a variety of substrates. The type of an enzyme, accessibility of the reactive groups and process conditions affect to the extent of cross-linking.

Exploitation of protein crosslinking in cereal applications has major potential as cereal proteins have an important role in structural characteristics of the products. Wheat proteins are most commonly modified by transglutaminase, tyrosinase, laccase and peroxidase as rye, oat, and barley proteins have unfavourable viscoelastic properties.

In dairy applications utilization of transglutaminase, tyrosinase, laccase and peroxidase in protein crosslinking requires extensive knowledge on the complex structure of various milk proteins in order to be able to tailor proteins towards better functionality as improved gelling, foaming and emulsifying property. In meat and fish processing transglutaminase is the main crosslinking enzyme studied and has been exploited in industrial processing.

Enzymatic crosslinking of proteins is used to tailor the technological properties of the proteins and subsequent food structures. However, crosslinking of proteins may also affect to the physiological properties of the product as digestibility and allergenicity.

The method has a lot of potential as specific and natural means for tailoring food structures. Transglutaminases can be used in all food applications. The research relating on the other types of crosslinking enzymes is very active and it can be anticipated that new enzymes will be launched to the market in the near future.

Reference:

Buchert, J., Ercili-Cura, D., Ma H.,, Gasparetti, C., Monogioudi, E., Faccio, G., Mattinen, M.-L., Boer, H., Partanen, R., Selinheimo, E., Lantto, R., Kruus, K. Crosslinking Food Proteins for Improved Functionality. Annu. Rev. Food Sci. Technol. (2010) 1,113–38.

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