ABSTRACT
The use of enzymes in the food processing industry dates back to 6000 BC or earlier with the brewing of beer, bread baking, cheese and wine making, and vinegar production (Poulsen and Buchholz 2003). Enzymatic degradation in meat was first observed by Spallanzani (1729-1799), and a substance in barley was found by Kirchhoff (1815) to be capable of starch paste liquefaction into sugar (Roberts 1995). The term diastase was coined by Payen and Persoz for this saccarification process (Payen and Persoz 1833), and this is still in use for amylases in the brewing industry. Now the enzymes find applications in a wide range of food industries including dairy, baking, brewing, food processing (vegetables, fruits, and egg), sweetener production, protein hydrolysis, distilling, and fruit juice and wine production and in lipid modification. In all of these industries, enzymes are meant mainly for the production of fermentation substrates, flavor development and enhancement, or for product production.
