At present, bromelain, papain, trypsin and microbial protease are widely used in food processing industry, and protein's hydrolysis reaction, protein transfer reaction and cross-linking reaction are mainly used in the application process. Click to learn more.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of meat products by protease will cause internal cross-linking reaction of protein, and produce special chemical groups, which will change the internal structure of protein and the chemical properties of protein in meat products, thus changing its functional characteristics such as water solubility, hydration and emulsification, thus improving the quality of meat products.
01. Application of protease in improving the tenderness of meat products
Tenderness, as one of the important evaluation indexes of meat products quality, has become an important factor for consumers to evaluate the quality and palatability of meat products. The factors that determine the tenderness of meat are very complex and diverse, including fat bulk density and connective tissue solubility.
In recent years, tender meat products are more popular with consumers, and how to improve the tenderness of meat products has become one of the key issues in the food processing industry.
At present, internationally recognized safe proteases include papain, bromelain, subtilisin, fig protease, etc. These proteases can degrade muscle fibers and collagen to varying degrees, thus achieving meat tenderness.
Using plant protease to tenderize meat products is not only low in cost, but also effective, and it also shows good tenderizing effect on aged poultry products.
02. Improve the flavor of meat products
After heating, meat products can emit their own meat flavor, while cured meat products will produce unique bacon flavor during processing, especially fermented meat products, whose unique bacon flavor is deeply loved by consumers. However, it takes a long time to make wax meat products, and its production technology is difficult to control under natural conditions.
Using protease can make meat products produce free amino acids and other precursors or intermediates that affect the flavor of meat products, which is conducive to accelerating the flavor of meat products and improving the flavor of meat products.
Zhu Jianjun et al. added papain and neutral protease in the process of processing Guizhou bacon. The types and total amount of free amino acids in the sample with protease were higher than those without protease, and the types of flavor substances were also increased (except hydrocarbons and carbonyl compounds). He established the optimal enzymolysis conditions of Guizhou bacon: papain addition 0.001%, neutral protease addition 0.001%, salt addition 4%, and enzymolysis time 48 h.
Luo Zan and other studies show that the addition of appropriate amount of trypsin can promote the degradation of protein in bacon, increase the production rate of flavor substances in bacon, promote the flavor formation of bacon, and help improve the flavor of meat products.
Yang Shuang et al. detected the changes of meat flavor before and after chicken protease treatment by electronic nose and GC-MS, and the results showed that chicken protease could effectively enhance chicken flavor.
Xiao Xia and other studies show that adding complex enzymes (papain and bromelain 1: 1) during curing can significantly improve the brightness of beef, improve the texture characteristics of beef, make beef have better water retention and color, and increase the contents of free amino acids, essential amino acids and flavor-related amino acids in beef.
03. Increase the value of meat by-products
A large number of by-products or leftovers are usually produced in the processing of meat products, and protease can transform waste protein into protein concentrate for human consumption or feed. For example, using protease to produce beef juice, chicken juice and so on to improve the added value of products.
Ding Weilu et al. used protease to hydrolyze the leftover of tuna dark meat processing, combined with spray drying process to prepare tuna hydrolyzed protein powder, and used trypsin as hydrolysis enzyme to prepare a powder with high protein and low fat and good solubility, which can be used as an efficient nutritional feed component for early growth of animals, as well as a condiment or protein nutrient, and has a broad application prospect.
Li Yong's research shows that papain can achieve the best effect of enzymatic hydrolysis of beef, and the best conditions of enzymatic hydrolysis of beef juice are determined, and the beef juice products are rich in flavor.
Yang Ergang and others compounded refined neutral protease and papain according to a certain proportion, and then hydrolyzed chicken under appropriate conditions, so as to obtain a chicken hydrolyzed protein solution with no bitterness, high degree of protein hydrolysis and strong chicken flavor, which solved the problem of more nutrient loss caused by debittering with activated carbon.
04. Summary
As an efficient and healthy enzyme preparation, protease has been widely used in meat processing industry. The technology of tenderizing meat, improving taste and flavor of meat products by protease preparation is constantly updated, which has made great contributions to meat products processing.
With the rapid development of enzyme technology, the application potential of protease will be further developed, and it will also make greater contributions to the development of meat processing industry and even food processing industry.
Protease preparation has the advantages of low cost and high efficiency, but there are also some problems. How to develop more efficient protease preparation, further optimize the production process and reduce the cost is a problem that meat processing enterprises and relevant departments should pay attention to.
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