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Y. FUJISHIMA1, T. Okamoto1, and N. Nio2. (1) Institute of Life Sciences, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Suzuki-cho 1-1, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, 210-8681, Japan, (2) R&D Management Department, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Kyobashi 1-15-1, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-8315, Japan Enzymes are frequently used in food industry in variety of forms. However, the application is limited to either the surface part of food material or in liquid or in dough type form. Pressure control is also known in food industry but only the ultra high pressure of over 10 MPa is used in sterilization, denaturing of protein or inactivation of endogenous enzymes. Our objective was to introduce the enzymes using positive pressure to food material for effective alteration of physical property such as fortification or weakening of solid physical property of variety of food materials. We have soaked the food materials to enzyme solution in the presence of positive pressure of up to 5 MPa. Also recycling usage of the enzyme solution was performed. When treat carrot or pumpkin with pectinase solution with 0.5 MPa for the duration of seconds to minutes, we saw a definitive weakening of the vegetable structure. When we treated the carrot, potato or pumpkin with pectin methyl esterase (PME), significant hardening of vegetables was observed. Pressurization period alteration for the application of PME showed that there was no difference found with 5 second or 20 min pressurization. The degree of pressure was altered and the hardening of vegetable can be controlled according to the pressure applied. For the recycling of PME on pumpkin or carrot, over 10 repetitive usage of same enzyme solution was possible with hardly any loss of hardening change. It was indicative that pressure less than 1 MPa could make a significant change in the property of food materials. Also, the efficiency in terms of time and enzyme cost is a lot higher than simple soaking procedure. This phenomenon can open up a new field in food structure modification.
Session 94, Food Chemistry: Chemical effects of food processing, preservation and formulation
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