Effect of Green Food Processing Technology on the Enzyme Activity in Spelt Flour.
Maja LeitgebŽeljko KnezGordana Hojnik PodrepšekPublished in: Foods (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
In this research, a new approach to enzyme inactivation in flour was presented by supercritical technology, considered a sustainable technology with lower energy consumption compared to other technologies that use ultra-high temperature processing. Total protein concentration and the activity of enzymes α-amylase, lipase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and protease were determined in flour pre-treated with scCO 2 . During the study, it was observed that the activity of enzymes such as lipase and polyphenol oxidase, was significantly reduced under certain conditions of scCO 2 treatment, while the enzymes α-amylase and protease show better stability. In particular, polyphenol oxidase was effectively inactivated below the 60% of preserved activity at 200 bar and 3 h, whereas α-amylase under the same conditions retained its activity. Additionally, the moisture content of the scCO 2 -treated spelt flour was reduced by 5%, and the fat content was reduced by 58%, while the quality of scCO 2 -treated flour was maintained. In this regard, the sustainable scCO 2 process could be a valuable tool for controlling the enzymatic activity of spelt flour since the use of scCO 2 technology has a positive effect on the quality of flour, which was verified by the baking performance of spelt flour with the baked spelt bread as an indicator of quality.