Enzymes: how food manufacturers deliver clean-label texture and sweetness
Demand for recognisable ingredients, greater transparency and foods perceived as less processed has increased manufacturers’ interest in clean-label formulations. Enzymes offer several functions otherwise supplied by additives. These biological catalysts accelerate biochemical reactions and are used in dairy processing, baking and beverage production. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), their commercial application expanded after scientists began separating them from living cells during the 20th century. Microbial fermentation now supplies most enzymes used by food producers. Applications include opening up fruit-cell structures to release juice and turning starch into sugars for the production of alcoholic drinks. Ronan Moloney, Kerry Group’s vice president of enzymes, identifies dairy and bakery products as prominent areas of use.
Whether an enzyme appears on a food label depends on its role and what happens to it during manufacturing. Gary Tucker, technical development ambassador at the consultancy Campden BRI, explains that enzymes used as processing aids are frequently eliminated or destroyed before production is complete. Baking temperatures, for example, can destroy an enzyme after it has performed its function. When it has no continuing role in the finished food, it need not appear among the ingredients, Tucker says. Marc Struhalla, Kerry’s vice president of RD&A enzymes and biotechnology, adds that an enzyme which stays in the finished food, especially one that continues to serve a purpose, remains subject to ingredient listing. The clean-label application therefore depends on how a particular enzyme is used.
In dairy drinks containing substantial amounts of protein, enzymes can address excessive thickness, according to Moloney. They break down some protein structures, reducing viscosity while leaving the protein in the drink. A separate application involves splitting milk’s lactose into two simpler sugars. This produces lactose-free milk and increases its sweetness because the resulting sugars taste sweeter than lactose, without altering its nutritional value, Moloney explains. Manufacturers can consequently avoid using artificial sweeteners for that purpose. In breadmaking, Tucker says, enzymes can generate sugars that yeast can ferment, helping regulate yeast activity in dough and reducing the requirement for added sugar. Kerry is also investigating whether enzymes can transform sugars already present in foods into fibre, allowing formulators to increase fibre content through that conversion.
The time required to develop enzymes limits how quickly suppliers can respond to changing consumer preferences. Moloney says Kerry is cautious about committing resources to minor customer concerns or short-lived fashions. He describes GLP-1-related eating habits, alongside demand for high-protein, better-for-you and clean-label products, as sufficiently widespread to influence research priorities. In his account, the effects extend beyond people taking the medicines: consumers who do not use GLP-1 drugs can adopt similar behaviour. Kerry is devoting substantial research time to enzymes for formulations that meet those preferences, including foods with greater nutrient density and higher levels of protein and fibre. The company’s work on converting sugars into fibre is among the applications it is exploring as it develops formulation options.
Kerry manufactures enzymes using precision fermentation, Struhalla says, employing genetically modified organisms designed to produce them. Early-stage work takes place at its biotechnology centre in Leipzig, where researchers investigate which enzymes can deliver particular functions. They obtain enzymes with selected characteristics through directed evolution, a laboratory technique that imitates natural selection. Development then moves from very small experiments to trials in the centre’s pilot facility before commercial manufacturing. Mathias Salamo, an R&D team manager at the centre, says the ability to operate a process at greater scale is a condition of its development: technical sophistication alone does not justify a process that cannot be expanded for production.
The Leipzig pilot facility can reproduce the operating conditions of Kerry’s larger enzyme factories around the world, according to Arnd Knoll, the centre’s vice president of production. Its equipment can therefore be used to test enzymes intended for any of those manufacturing sites. Knoll says projects reaching this stage have a high likelihood of progressing to full-scale manufacture; unsuccessful candidates are more likely to encounter problems earlier in research and development. He describes the pilot facility as a way of connecting laboratory research with engineering requirements. Scientists’ approach to a process can differ substantially from that of engineers, he says, and the intermediate testing stage brings those perspectives together before the process enters commercial production.
Scaling up and introducing enzyme processes can require substantial expenditure, Struhalla says. Kerry assesses when sales of the resulting enzymes will recover that investment, alongside the technical work needed to manufacture them. The length of time for which capital remains committed to an individual project provides one basis for comparing development opportunities. Struhalla says each euro invested ultimately has to be recovered, making the expected repayment period a consideration when the company chooses between projects.
