Fernandes Pedro
Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IBB), Centre for Biological and Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Avenue Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
Enzyme Res. 2010 Sep 29;2010:862537. doi: 10.4061/2010/862537.
Food and feed is possibly the area where processing anchored in biological agents has the deepest roots. Despite this, process improvement or design and implementation of novel approaches has been consistently performed, and more so in recent years, where significant advances in enzyme engineering and biocatalyst design have fastened the pace of such developments. This paper aims to provide an updated and succinct overview on the applications of enzymes in the food sector, and of progresses made, namely, within the scope of tapping for more efficient biocatalysts, through screening, structural modification, and immobilization of enzymes. Targeted improvements aim at enzymes with enhanced thermal and operational stability, improved specific activity, modification of pH-activity profiles, and increased product specificity, among others. This has been mostly achieved through protein engineering and enzyme immobilization, along with improvements in screening. The latter has been considerably improved due to the implementation of high-throughput techniques, and due to developments in protein expression and microbial cell culture. Expanding screening to relatively unexplored environments (marine, temperature extreme environments) has also contributed to the identification and development of more efficient biocatalysts. Technological aspects are considered, but economic aspects are also briefly addressed.
食品和饲料领域可能是基于生物制剂的加工技术根基最深的领域。尽管如此，人们一直在持续改进加工过程，或设计并实施新方法，近年来更是如此，酶工程和生物催化剂设计的重大进展加快了此类发展的步伐。本文旨在提供关于酶在食品领域应用的最新且简洁的概述，以及所取得的进展，即在通过酶的筛选、结构修饰和固定化来寻找更高效生物催化剂的范围内取得的进展。有针对性的改进目标是获得具有更高热稳定性和操作稳定性、更高比活性、改变pH-活性曲线以及提高产物特异性等特性的酶。这主要通过蛋白质工程、酶固定化以及筛选改进来实现。由于高通量技术的应用以及蛋白质表达和微生物细胞培养的发展，筛选工作有了显著改进。将筛选扩展到相对未被充分探索的环境（海洋、极端温度环境）也有助于识别和开发更高效的生物催化剂。本文考虑了技术方面，但也简要讨论了经济方面。
