My Chu Do you know the organic compounds found in our saliva can be such useful substances? PICTURE 1. Enzyme (from Upadhye, S. P. 2015. Know more your metabolism.) Nowadays, the use of enzyme is being applied in a broader range of industrial processes. Enzyme application helps to improve the current industrial processes such as in cosmetic products and food processing. The emission of carbon dioxide by the food production in recent time is significantly larger than emission from personal transport. These are strongly influenced by the use of energy in agriculture plus the release of greenhouse gases. In brief, enzymes are protein molecules, which function as particularized catalysts in chemical reaction and can be found in nature and human body. They destroy and create molecules such as nutrients and speed up all important biological processes. Enzymes work in a moderate condition so that it is environmental friendly than most industrial chemicals. Even though they are quite expensive compounds, enzymes can be immobilized and re-used. The applications of enzymes in food industry are numerous and commonly known. Our favorite drink Beer, is one of the first famous products, using enzymes in manufacture. Amylase are vital in brewing beer and liquor, even in bread-making (yeast production) because they catalyze the hydrolysis of starch into sugars. Baby foods cannot be produced without enzyme Proteases. It will pre-digest some of the protein in food so that babies can easily absorb the nutrients. Lipases, a cheap and versatile catalyst which also appear in our saliva, play an important role in yogurt and cheese fermentation. According to Gupta (2004), Lipases can act as biocatalysts in forming fuel from vegetable oil. Some enzymes even take charge of modifying the color of food or beverage during the process. Enzymatic processes are very exclusive, fast and effectively save raw materials as well as chemicals, energy, and water, producing less waste compared to conventional processes. The circumstance of acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone formation and land use have been researched to be improved recently with the assistance of potential enzyme technology. The study is using mostly Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an assessment tool, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is also taken in to consideration (Jegannathan and Nielsen, 2013). In Oxenboll’s and Ernst’s research, they found out that there are significant benefits that we could gain from using enzymes in the food industry. Using the enzymatic process will reduce 44 tons greenhouse gases per 1000 tons refined oil comparing with the caustic process in removing phospholipids from vegetable oil. The increased yield of enzymatic process is the major factor for the amazing results. In the baking industry, enzyme Novamyl (a special Amylase) would help the bread to stay fresh and moist longer. As the consequence, the industry can save money and energy thanks to the decrease in the amount of waste bread. Apart from this, enzymes can also advance the digestibility of animal feed. For example, with using Xylanase for feeding of pigs in all Europe, the carbon dioxide reduction would equal to the emission of nearly 1 million cars, which is about 4 million tons of CO2. The use of enzymatic processes and enzymes is very promising. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimation in 2030, the reduction of 139 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent could be made due to the uses of enzymes in food industry. REFERENCES: Bang, J.K., Foller, A., Buttazzoni, M. 2009. Industrial Biotechnology: More than green fuel in a dirty economy?. WWF. Read on 19/11/2017. http://www.iwbio.de/fileadmin/Publikationen/IWBio-Artikel/WWF_28-10-2009.pdf Gupta, R., Gupta, N., Rathi, P. 2004. Bacterial lipases: an overview of production, purification and biochemical properties. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. Jegannathan, K. R., Nielsen, P.H. 2013. Environmental assessment of enzyme use in industrial production – a literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production. Elsevier. Volume 42. p228-240. Oxenboll, K., Ernst, S. Environment as a new perspective of enzymes in the food industry. FS&T. Vol 22, issue 1. https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwikpo3j2a_XAhXRh7QKHTNBDl4QFgg1MAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.novozymes.com%2F-%2Fmedia%2FProject%2FNovozymes%2FWebsite%2Fwebsite%2Fdocument-library%2FLCAs%2FEnvironment-as-a-new-perspective-of-enzymes-in-the-food-industry.pdf%3Fla%3Den&usg=AOvVaw0KSqzLlqeae_wrTkJBgWhO Shuang, L. 2012. Technology prospecting on enzymes: Application, Marketing and Engieering. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. Volume 2, Issue 3. Article e201209017. Upadhye, S. P. 2015. Know more your metabolism. Science Domain. Read on 19/11/2017. https://domainofscience.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/know-your-metabolism/ |
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