Application of Protease in Meat Processing Industry

Meat plays a very important role in human life, and we consume a variety of meat every day. With the improvement of living standards, people's dietary requirements are no longer just satisfied with fullness, but the requirements for the taste, quality and nutritional value of meat products have been improved. This also puts forward higher requirements for the meat processing industry. How to ensure that the purchased meat retains its original freshness has become the primary concern. In fact, in addition to the speed of animal growth, the quality of meat is affected by many factors in the slaughter operation. Not only that, the quality of meat sold immediately after slaughter is also not high, because the freshly slaughtered meat must have sufficient storage time under good storage conditions to produce sufficient tenderness and flavor. Roughness caused by improper handling or insufficient aging time will affect consumer consumption. At present, meat product processing enterprises continue to carry out technological reforms and upgrades, which has led the industry to develop in a high-quality direction. Due to its green, safe and efficient characteristics, industrial enzyme technology has been widely utilized in food processing, which is of great significance for improving product quality and technical improvement in the field of food processing. Protease can be utilized to tenderize meat products and increase its flavor. It finds a wide utilization in the development of meat quality. Enzymatic hydrolysis of meat products will cause the protein to undergo internal cross-linking reactions, and produce special chemical groups to change the internal structure of the protein. The chemical properties of the protein in the meat product are changed, thereby changing its functional characteristics such as water solubility, hydration and emulsification, thereby improving the quality of the meat product. Enhance meat tenderness The quality of meat depends to a large extent on its texture. As one of the important evaluation indexes of meat product quality, tenderness has become an important factor for consumers to evaluate meat product quality and palatability. Meat is rich in fibrin, these proteins will make the structure of meat more closely linked, resulting in reduced tenderness of meat. Through the action of protease, the fiber units in the meat can be broken, so that the myofibrils are lysed and the meat becomes loose, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the tenderness of the meat. In protein hydrolysis, the position and mode of action of different enzymes on proteins are different, so the tenderization effect and time are also greatly different. In addition, the protein itself is different, which further affects the time and effect of the enzyme. How to turn rough meat into crunchy and tender brown-red meat? Protease is one of the first choices. Studies have shown that fig protease extracted from figs and bromelain obtained from pineapple are very effective in tenderizing meat. However, crude papain is most widely used in the meat industry for reasons of safety and cheapness. It has been reported that by using papain as an activator to tenderize beef, the color, taste and flavor of beef have been improved to a certain extent. It has also been reported that the use of bromelain combined with some inorganic salts to treat mutton produces ham intestines with tender meat, good elasticity and unique flavor. Improve meat flavor After heat treatment, the meat product can emit its own meat flavor, and the cured meat product will produce a unique flavor of bacon during processing. Especially the fermented meat products are popular among consumers for their unique bacon flavor. However, it takes a long time to make bacon meat products, and its production process is difficult to control under natural conditions. The use of protease can make meat products produce free amino acids and other precursor substances or intermediate products that affect the flavor of meat products, which is beneficial to accelerate the production of flavors of meat products, and has a certain effect on improving the flavor of meat products. Increase the value of meat by-products Meat products usually produce a large amount of by-products or leftovers. Proteases can convert waste protein into protein concentrates for human consumption or as feed. As a highly efficient and healthy enzyme preparation, protease at Creative Enzymes has been widely used in the meat processing industry. Relevant technologies for meat tenderization, taste improvement, and flavor improvement of meat products using protease preparations have been continuously updated, and have made great contributions to the processing of meat products. With the rapid development of enzyme technology, the application potential of protease will be further developed, and it will also make greater contributions to the development of the meat processing industry and even the food processing industry.