TG is an enzyme that occurs naturally in plants, animals, and our bodies. The TG enzyme helps our bodies perform certain tasks such as building muscle, destroying toxins and breaking down food particles during digestion. There are two natural sources of TG: plants and animals. Transglutaminase in use today is made from a fermenting bacterium called Streptoverticillium mobaraense. Since it is produced by microbes and is not an animal-based product, TG is also vegetarian and vegan.
What are enzymes and how are they used in food?
In food, enzymes are used to develop flavors, colors and textures and to enhance the palatability of our favorite foods. Enzymes are critical in making cheese, brewing beer, baking bread and extracting fruit juice. Other functions of the transglutaminase enzyme include:
- Making meats, poultry, and seafood uniform in size for even and safe cooking;
- Diminishing waste by creating value-added products while improving the appearance and texture of food;
- Binding meats, poultry and seafood together (such as sausages without casings and imitation crab);
- Forming novel food combinations (e.g. beef and bacon); and Producing special effects with food (e.g. shrimp-meat spaghetti, meat noodles, meat and vegetable pastas, and more).
- TG is mostly associated and used with meat, poultry, and seafood products. For example, it can be used to bind smaller cuts of meat together to make a larger cut, or it can be added to imitation crab or sausages to improve texture. It can even be found in bacon-wrapped beef filets that may be served at your favorite restaurant.
BENEFITS OF TG IN FOOD PROCESSING
- Emulsion-based meat processing products. (e.g. Sausage, Ham, Hotdog, Salami, etc.)
- Increases gel strength
- Facilitates water retention and juiciness
- Improves elasticity and texture of products
- Increases slice-ability to decrease waste in chopping.
- Restructured meat products
- Increase slicing effectiveness
- End product with freewheeling shapes
- Once restructured, the product can be cooked or frozen without losing shape
- Create strong bonds between proteins.
- Dairy products
- Capture more proteins from whey to Increase the yield of cheese products about 10%
- Increase slice-ability and improve cheese firmness
- Increase gel strength and viscosity optimize thickening in yoghourt products
- Reduce syneresis with a smoother surface.
- Surimi-based products. (e.g. Fishball, Fish cake etc.)
- Increase gel strength
- Improve elasticity and firmness of fishball
- Improve the physical properties of fishball.
- Facilitate the incorporation of mechanically deboned fish (MDF) into standardized portions with high added value.
