Potential Application of Pectinase in Developing Functional Foods.

The understanding that enzymatic degradation of fruit pectin can clarify
juices and improve juice yields resulted in the search formicrobial pectinases
and application in vegetable- and fruit-processing industries. Identified enzymes
were classified on the basis of their catalytic activity to pectin or its
derivatives and in terms of industrial use. Discovery of gene sequences that
coded the enzymes, protein engineering, and molecular biology tools resulted
in defined microbial strains that over-produced the enzymes for costeffective
technologies. Recent perspectives on the use of pectin and its derivatives
as dietary fibers suggest enzymatic synthesis of the right oligomers
from pectin for use in human nutrition. While summarizing the activities of
pectin-degrading enzymes, their industrial applications, and gene sources,
this review projects another application for pectinases, which is the use of
enzymatically derived pectin moieties in functional food preparation.