Enzymes in the Design of Functional Foods or Their Constituents

Abstract

Food plays a major role in maintaining the health and wellbeing of human being. The food we have has a direct impact on the human gut microbiome. Stress also influences the gut health and is responsible for inflammatory reactions in the gut. Any dysbiosis in the gastrointestinal microbiota leads to several gut related diseases like diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, and even colorectal cancer. Functional foods have the ability to rejuvenate and enrich the beneficial gut microorganisms, thereby alleviating the symptoms of various gut related diseases, diminishes the risk of cardiovascular diseases and improves health and wellbeing. Microbial enzyme processes use fermentation technology to engineer or enhance production of certain naturally occurring dietary substances to boost physiological benefits. These are functional foods and functional food ingredients. Functional foods enriched with probiotic, prebiotics, synbiotics and cobiotics as well as other plant and animal related food components have the ability to improve the consumer’s health and well-being. Enzyme catalysed degradation of phytates to enhance bioavailability of iron in cereal based foods is an example. Certain lactic acid bacteria produce glucose, galactose and oligosaccharides (prebiotics) due to transgalactosidal and lactose hydrolysis activities of beta-galactosidase. Other examples include non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) from cereals such as β-glucan and arabinoxylan as dietary fibre constituents or for producing prebiotic compounds