Enzyme is a protein produced in organisms (animals, plants, microorganisms), which can catalyze the conversion of substances and is indispensable in all life activities. According to Grand View Research, the global enzyme market size was valued at USD 11.47 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% from 2022 to 2030.
The role and advantages of enzymes
According to the information released by the International Biochemistry-Molecular Biology Joint Nomenclature Committee, there are currently about 6,500 registered enzymes, which can be divided into seven types, such as oxidoreductase and hydrolase, according to the type of catalytic reaction. Enzymes serve a variety of purposes. They break down food, so nutrients are more easily absorbed; form body components from absorbed nutrients; obtain energy for physical activity; and generate or break down substances for biological defense.
Enzymatic production is used in many fields and gradually replaces chemical methods. Compared with chemical processes, enzymatic production is earth-friendly, does not produce unnecessary by-products, has high efficiency, and mainly uses microbial fermentation methods to produce products with unlimited resources.
Innovative application scenarios of enzyme preparations
1) Cheese flavoring
According to GIR (Global Info Research), the global revenue of enzyme-modified dairy products and cheese ingredients will be approximately US$803.1 million in 2021 and reach US$1187.1 million in 2028. Enzyme Modified Cheese (EMC) refers to cheese with a unique flavor made by adding enzyme preparations (mainly lipase and protease/peptidase) during cheese production and undergoing a series of reactions. Among them, the role of lipase is to decompose milk fat into fatty acids with dairy aroma, and protease/peptidase decomposes milk protein into amino acids with dairy flavor.
2) Improved coffee quality
The galactomannan in the coffee extract, at a high concentration, will cause the viscosity to rise sharply, making it challenging to filter the coffee liquid. It will form a colloid, precipitating other substances such as protein and caffeine. Hemicellulase (mannanase) can cut galactomannan at specific sites, making galactomannan small molecules, reducing viscosity, preventing precipitation, shortening filtration time, and improving filtration efficiency. Filtration rate.
3) Improve the bitterness of stevia sugar
The post-bitterness of stevia restricts its application in food and beverages. To improve its taste, the world’s major stevia suppliers have developed various improvement methods, such as selective breeding of stevia plants and genetic engineering. Enzyme preparations can also play an essential role in improving the taste of stevia.
4) More other applications
Enzyme preparations can also be used in tea, cakes, seasonings, and natural extract modification. For example, tannase can effectively prevent the cloudiness of tea after cooling and reduce the bitterness of tea; protease can improve the extraction of tea soup Yield, increase the content of free amino acids, and enhance the taste; glycosyltransferase can anti-aging for cakes, rice and so on.