Cold adapted transglutaminase in food processing

Objective

The main aim in this project is to develop and produce cold adapted glue enzyme from fish for use in food production. The enzyme form strong irreversible bonds between proteins in food, and  can withstand further processing as roasting, freezing, boiling and cooling without destroying the protein bindings. This enables the production of new and innovative food that can be used in the food industry.

Description

Transglutaminase is a group of proteins found naturally in higher organisms and whose mission is to catalyze a unique enzymatic reaction. By crosslinking lysine and glutamine side chains between different proteins  it can act as biological glue.

The enzyme form strong irreversible bonds between proteins that can withstand further processing as roasting, freezing, boiling and cooling without destroying the bindings. The enzyme has therefore great potential for application in the food industry.

A large volume of byproducts from the fishing industry in Norway can be restructured and developed into new and attractive fish products with higher value for the manufacturer. This may increase the total fish consumption in Norway.

A commercial enzyme is already on the market, but it requires relatively high temperature to be activated (40 degrees), and even higher temperature to be inactivated. This limits the usefulness in terms of food production, because high temperatures degrade the quality of the product.

The University in Stavanger (CORE) have sequenced and cloned a cold adapted transglutaminase enzyme originating from cod, which is active at considerably lower temperatures and it is also inactivated at significantly lower temperatures than similar enzymes on the market. Now we are ready to upscale production of cold adapted transglutaminases from cod for use in the food industry.