Up to 50% of processed seafood products are being classified as co-products. An enzymatic hydrolysis process can change that and thereby make sense both economically and environmentally.  An enzymatic process will minimize waste and convert the co-products into seafood extract. This seafood protein extract is high in protein, rich in marine amino acids, and low in fat. The seafood extract can be used in Food, Feed and Pet Food

In a slaughterhouse co-products like trimmings, bones, blood plasma and blood can be enzymatically hydrolysed into valuable protein extracts. An enzymatic process will minimize waste which makes sense both economically and environmentally. Protein extracts can be used in a number of food products e.g. in processed foods, soups, sausages and hereby increase the quality and flavor and reduce salt in the final product. All kinds of meat trimmings and coproducts can be applied in this application.

The most important group of vegetable proteins comprises the seed proteins. In addition, there are proteins from roots and leaves, like potato, cassava and clover. The seed proteins are further divided into three sub-groups: cereals, oilseeds and legumes.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of vegetable/cereal proteins such as soy, wheat gluten, corn gluten, rice, pea and peanuts can be improved significantly by enzymatic hydrolysis. Extensive hydrolysis of vegetable food proteins increases flavor ingredients without the bitterness that is often associated with enzymatic hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis provides a number of additional benefits and advantages over traditional acid treatment.

Gelatin extraction often uses hide, skin, cartilage, bones and tissue from cattle, lamb, chicken and pigs. Gelatin manufacturing is a controlled hydrolysis of the collagen to achieve some desired functional properties. Enzymatic hydrolysis can benefit the process in the bone cleaning, soaking, and liming stages of gelatin production. Capacity increase and cost reduction in soaking and liming steps increase the gelatin yield. The enzymatic process improves the raw material quality by having cleaner bones.  A controlled hydrolysis of the gelatin result in a good yield and the desired bloom strength.

Yeast extracts are used as flavoring agents in many products such as soups, gravies, snack foods, and meat products. Yeast extracts are rich in amino acids, nucleotides, peptides, vitamins, and flavor compounds. Use of exogenous enzymes in a traditional yeast extract production compared to the traditional production process offers increased yield, improved flavor and taste, reduced production time and hereby increased production capacity.

GAGs are the carbohydrate part of proteoglycans found in animal tissue like mucosa, trachea, rooster combs, skin and lung tissue from which they can be extracted. Prior to the complicated extraction of the GAGs, the surrounding tissue protein to which the GAGs are covalently linked has to be hydrolysed. An enzymatic hydrolysis produces a cleaner raw material for the GAGs extraction and reduces the waste and the amount of water required for downstream processing.

Vegetable proteins like soy, wheat and corn gluten, rice, pea and peanuts as well as the dairy proteins whey and casein are key ingredients in fortified protein products. These products are normally difficult to absorb, but enzymatic hydrolysis helps obtain the ideal properties from raw materials and adapt them to the requirements of the final product. An enzymatic hydrolysis reduces bitterness, improves protein solubility and facilitates production of protein enhanced nutritional drinks.

Enzymes can be used to hydrolyse animal co-products into protein hydrolysates that are used in flavor and digest products within the pet food industry. When animal proteins are hydrolyzed, the taste and flavor are improved, resulting in pet food with better palatability. Enzymatic hydrolysis enhances palatability, improve raw material utilization and ensure better process economy.

Alternative protein sources for poultry diets are necessary in order to reduce farmers’ dependence on traditional sources of protein. Supply, availability and nutritional value are some of the necessary criteria in the search for suitable alternatives. Alternative proteins could be chicken feathers, lamb’s wool, insects, horns or hoofs, fishbones…

Enzymes are used on grapes to hydrolyze pectin and reduce viscosity therefore releasing high quality juice in a gentle manner. Use of exogenous enzymes is necessary to clarify the grape must in a well-mastered process: quick depectinisation, good clarity and sediment compaction are some of the key benefits. Pectinases are applied in white, rosé and red wine making on grapes and juice/wine to increase yield, easier extraction and clarification, reduce production time, improve profitability and increase quality.

Vegetable oils and animal fats are important ingredients for several different foodstuffs and non-food products. About 80% of the total market of oils and fats is of vegetable origin. Rapeseed contains 40-46% oil and 20-30% protein. Glucosinolates can be critical for both oil and protein quality. Especially if too high concentrations of these compounds or their degradation products are present in the oil and protein products.

Oil from rapeseed is traditionally produced by a combined process using pressing followed by extraction with organic solvents, like hexane.

The enzymatic process is based on the use of water as solvent and cell wall degrading enzymes to facilitate an easy and mild fractionation of oil, protein and hulls. The oil is found inside plant cells, linked with proteins and a wide range of carbohydrates like starch, cellulose, hemi-cellulose and pectin’s. The cell content is surrounded by a thick wall which has to be opened so the protein and oil can be released. Thus, when opened by enzymatic degradation, downstream processing makes fractionation of the components possible to a degree which cannot be reached when using the conventional technique like pressing and hexane extraction. Seeds for oil extraction could be Canola, corn, coconut, sunflower etc.