Application of Papain in Food Processing

(1) In meat processing, the important role of protease is to tenderize meat, and the main components of meat tenderizer are protease and salt. Among them, the most used protease preparation is papain.

(2) In baked food processing, adding an appropriate amount of protease can change the properties of gluten, obtain dough with moderate viscosity, and shorten the dough preparation time. Because the elasticity of the dough is reduced, the mesh of the gluten becomes finer and the membrane of the gluten becomes thinner during fermentation, and the processed bread is tight, even and soft to the touch. In addition, during the bread grilling process, protease inactivation basically does not play a role.

(3) In the brewing industry, beer often produces turbidity during storage. The reasons for turbidity are microbial contamination and chemical reactions in beer at low temperatures. The turbid substances produced by chemical reactions are mainly proteins and polyphenolic compounds. One way to reduce the haze in beer is to add proteases to remove proteins from the beer. Generally, protease is added before pasteurization, and papain is commonly used. Since the protease preparation has high heat resistance, the enzyme activity may still remain after the beer is pasteurized. When the yeast is filtered to remove the protease activity, there is no protease activity in the beer.

(4) In tea beverages, some scholars have shown that papain can decompose soluble proteins in tea leaves, increase the amino nitrogen content, enhance the umami taste of tea juice, and significantly improve the flavor of tea juice.