Fast and natural way to new foods

Everyone seems to agree. The science of biotransformations or biocatalysis is not simple. But it offers food and ingredient manufacturers the prospect of new processes that cut the energy, number of steps and waste generated in production.

Unfortunately, the technology is also sometimes mistakenly tarred with the genetic modification (GM) brush. And while GM could be involved, more usually it's a case of isolating naturally-occurring enzymes and using them to mimic what occurs in nature.

The technology is already used commercially in some sectors of the industry. Take cheesemaking, for example, which is probably the most common use of enzymes in food processing. In fact biocatalysis isn't really new at all: wine, beer and yoghurt makers have in essence been using the technique for thousands of years.

What's different today is the renewed interest in applying the technology to other areas of production, making use of newly identified enzymes and research into new processes in, for example, the development of food ingredients and nutraceuticals.

A new centre for biocatalysis is being opened at Manchester University later this year, which will provide facilities for food manufacturers to test out new processes.

So, whether you're involved in producing new flavours, foods, wine or cider, biocatalysis might be something worth looking at. The first port of call is probably to contact the Pro-Bio Faraday (www.pro-bio-faraday.com), the organisation entrusted with bringing industry and the very best in biotransformation academic research together. "We are very keen to get some of the key players in the food industry involved," says Pro-Bio technology translator Arnold Black.

The trouble is some people are put off by the difficulties inherent in the technology. "There are at least 10 hurdles to overcome." admits Dr Peter Cheetham, an expert in the field. Black adds: "It's difficult to get it across to venture capitalists who see it as a big risk."

One of the major issues to address is the cost of enzymes in use, says Cheetham: "This is what really matters." Biocatalysis has to offer advantages for the customer and profits for the supplier, he claims.

Much of the latest research into biocatalysis emanates from Japan, says Cheetham. Emerging new products made by biocatalysis include: Theanine, an active ingredient (psychotropic) in green tea, developed by Taiyo Kagaku and the transglutaminase process for reconstituting meat products from Ajinomoto. But international food manufacturers such as Nestlé and Kraft (Food Manufacture October 2004, p7) are also active in the sector.

At a seminar last month on biotransformations Dr Oliver May and Dr Harald Gröger described Degussa's oxidoreductase process for producing natural flavour alcohols. While technically successful, demand is currently insufficient to justify further development of the technology, they said.

Dr Birgitte Rønnow from Danisco described three research studies where the food ingredients tartaric acid, erythorbic acid and anhydrofructose (AF) and its derivatives were made by biotransformation of starch. AF shows antioxidant activity and an anti-browning effect in fruit products. It also has an antimicrobial effect. It can be used as a humectant, is calorie-free and has a sweetness of less than 20% of sucrose.

Once again, while the technology worked, the economics proved difficult to justify. The falling price of tartaric acid undermined the work and increasing output of low cost product from China was the main reason for stopping the manufacture of erythorbic acid using biocatalysis.

Dr Fabien Barbirato from Rhodia described a natural process for making vanillin using the fermentation of natural ferulic acid obtained from clove oil or rice.

The process is much cheaper than the production from vanilla beans obtained from a particular Mexican orchid, whose price is rising. Barbirato claimed Rhodia's Rhovanil product is more 'natural' than conventional synthetic production from lignin or 0-nitrochlorobenzene (ONCB) used in China. However, Rhodia also uses a synthetic catchol process for making synthetic vanillin from benzene.

Closer to home Dr Rob Lovitt from the University of Wales has been working with H P Bulmer to develop a biotransformation process for rapidly maturing cider. Given the opportunity, he would now like to apply the same technology to wine making where higher production volumes would make the process more economical.

Lovitt originally got involved with Bulmer when it changed from oak to stainless steel barrels and hit problems in maturation. The cause, he claimed, was the absence of the fine, naturally-occurring film of slime on oak barrels which aided fermentation.

Lovitt has developed a membrane bioreactor for the rapid maturation of alcoholic beverages which intensifies the lactic acid culture used. This makes the whole process much faster.

And the verdict on a cider that's matured in hours rather than months or years: "It tastes good for the amount of time it's had to mature," says Lovitt. FM