ABSTRACT
Plant storage organs and leaves produce a wide range of proteinase inhibitor isoforms as stress metabolites as well as in normal plant development. Plant proteinase inhibitors appear to function in plant development via post-translational processing as well as in the plant immune system. In addition to their importance in human and animal nutrition, a variety of applications for plant proteinase inhibitors have been explored by biomedical and food researchers. This presentation will provide an overview of this field of research with emphasis on the use of plant protease inhibitors as processing aids during fish meat (surimi) gelation.
