Protein hydrolysis using proteases: An important tool for food biotechnology

This review intended to give a brief idea of the importance of proteases applications. Processes that involve protein hydrolysis steps find wide ranging utilizations, such as cleaning process, proteomic studies, or food biotechnology process. Many positive effects hoped for with food processing can be achieved by protein hydrolysis using specific proteases, changing nutritional, bioactive and functional properties of food proteins, which include improved digestibility, modifications of sensory quality (such as texture or taste), improvement of antioxidant capability or reduction in allergenic compounds. Protease applications in industrial processes are constantly being introduced and can be advantageous compared to chemical processes, by increasing hydrolysis specificity, product preservation and purity, and reducing environmental impact. Differences in specificity between proteases are very important to take in to consideration as a guide for the choice of protease according to the protein source to be hydrolyzed or predicted products. In this present review, some aspects of the processes that involve protein hydrolysis steps are discussed, especially considering the application of specific proteases as a tool on food biotechnology.