Food Chemistry 277 (2019) 531–532

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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Enzyme technology in food preservation: A promising and sustainable strategy for biocontrol of T
post-harvest fungal pathogens

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Population aging has reinforced the need for production of foods with high nutritional value, especially fresh
Chitinase fruits and vegetables. In general, due to their perishable nature, these foods are prone to spoilage by post-harvest
Food spoilage microorganisms. For this reason, I aim to discuss in this article the alternative use of enzymes as biocontrol
Microbial enzyme agents against fungal infections in post-harvest fruits and vegetables. This article therefore proposes a sustain-
Mold
able alternative with demonstrated success to improve the preservation of food in its fresh form and facilitating
Proteolytic enzymes
its storage, mainly in domestic space. Food spoilage caused by microorganisms has adverse economic effects.
Pathogens such as Monilinia spp., Botrytis cinerea, and Penicillium expansum are important fungi that cause post-
harvest spoilage of fruits.Thus, the application of enzymes in food chemistry offers a promising approach to
improve the shelf life of foods without altering the organoleptical characteristics and nutritional content.

1. Introduction
The increase in the global population coupled with the increase in
life expectancy and the aging of the population has reinforced the need
for production of foods with high nutritional value, especially fresh
fruits and vegetables. However, due to their perishable nature, these
foods are prone to spoilage by post-harvest microorganisms. For this
reason, I aim to discuss in this article the alternative use of enzymes as
biocontrol agents against fungal infections in post-harvest fruits and
vegetables.
Food spoilage caused by microorganisms has adverse economic ef-
fects (James & Zikankuba, 2017; Mahajan, Cale, Singh, Watkins, &
Geyer, 2014). Pathogens such as Monilinia spp., Botrytis cinerea, and
Penicillium expansum are important fungi that cause post-harvest spoi-
lage of fruits such as peaches, apples, pears, plums, and nectarines
(Zhang, Spadaro, Garibaldi, & Gullino, 2010).
Thus, sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies that
improve food preservation without altering taste, appearance, smell,
nutritional content, are invaluable in the field of food chemistry.
2. Biocontrol of post-harvest fungal pathogens: peptidases and
chitinases
The microbial competition has been studied for the application of
certain types of microorganisms capable of controlling the growth of
bacteria and fungi in food. For example, this biocontrol practice has
been used in crops to combat pathogens. Another one suitable alter-
native to the use of microorganisms for biocontrol is to improve the
preservation of post-harvest foods. For example, the targeted applica-
tion of enzymes, such as proteolytic and chitinolytic enzymes. These
enzymes act against the contaminating microorganism, disrupting their
cellular structures and consequently inhibiting their growth.
Why the use of enzymes offer an interesting tool to improve the
preservation of fresh foods? To answer this question, it is possible to
argue that the conventional food preservation practices do not always
meet all the needs of a particular culinary variety. For example, de-
hydration improves fruit preservation, however it does not apply to
consumption of fresh fruits or making juices. The same logic applies in
salting and heat processing. The latter can also promote the loss of
essential components such as vitamins in fruits and vegetables.
Refrigeration is also used as a simple method for food preservation
against microbial biodegradation. However, in addition to refrigera-
tion, the use of enzymes may further prolong the expiry dates.
The application of enzymes in food chemistry offers a promising
approach to improve the shelf life of foods. For example, delaying of
mold infestation in strawberries, apples, and vegetables. It is well
known that strawberry has a short shelf life even when stored at 4 °C.
Mold cause spoilage of the healthy fruit within few days of refrigera-
tion.
In most cases, the enzymes employed to prevent spoilage are mainly
derived from microbial sources (Fig. 1). Some studies have shown the
successful use of enzymes as food preserving agents; Zhang, Spadaro,
Valente, Garibaldi, and Gullino (2012) reported the application of a
recombinant alkaline peptidase from yeast Aureobasidium pullulans
capable of in vitro inhibition of Botrytis cinerea growth. Banani et al.
(2014) also reported the effectiveness of an alkaline serine peptidase
against spoilage caused by B. cinerea and Monilinia fructicola in vitro and
on Golden Delicious apples.
The authors reported that the proteolytic activity of these enzymes
promoted a reduction in spoilage by suppressing the microbial growth
in synthetic culture media as well as in fresh apples. They demonstrated
that a peptidase concentration of 62.5 ng/μL was enough to contain the
progressive spoilage caused by B. cinerea on Golden Delicious apples.
Additionally, microscopic observation revealed a swelling of the hy-
phae of B. cinerea.
Peptidases act on the cell wall and membrane proteins of the fungi
(Silva et al., 2014, 2017; Silva, 2017) while chitinolytic enzymes break
down chitin in the cell wall structure. In both cases, enzymatic activity
causes damage to the cell wall, prevent spore germination, and conse-
quently reduce the deterioration of the food, allowing an increase in its

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.11.022
Received 19 September 2018; Accepted 3 November 2018
Available online 03 November 2018
0308-8146/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

preservation time.
Considering the application of enzymes in food preservation, some
fundamental biochemical characteristics are needed including activity
at mild temperatures, stability in storage conditions, and selective ac-
tion against organisms capable of food spoilage. In the latter case,
chitinolytic enzymes are promising candidates, especially when refer-
ring to prevention of fungal contamination of foods. These enzymes act
on chitin which is an essential component of fungal cell wall without
causing any damage to the food.
Thus, the enzymes offer valuable contribution to the food industry
and domestic storage of fruits and vegetables. The use of an enzyme,
rather than conventional antifungal agent is invaluable from the per-
spective of a sustainable application, since uncontrolled use of fungi-
cides is not advisable.
3. Future prospects
It is a widely accepted that technological innovation provides op-
portunities to improve food handling practices. Conventional techni-
ques to prevent food spoilage are not always compatible with cooking
diversity which often requires products that are not salted, dehydrated
or processed by heating. This article therefore proposes a sustainable
alternative with demonstrated success to improve the preservation of
food in its fresh form and facilitating its storage, mainly in domestic
space.
Further studies are needed to refine the use of enzymes as biocontrol
agents. Since this is a very important proposal from the point of view of
sustainable technology, considerable attention should be paid to finding
new ways to meet the growing food demands of the modern society.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no competing financial interest.
532
Food Chemistry 277 (2019) 531–532
Fig. 1. Enzyme technology in food pre-
servation: a sustainable strategy for biocon-
trol of post-harvest fungal pathogens.
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Ronivaldo Rodrigues da Silva
Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual
Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto, São
Paulo, Brazil
E-mail address: rds.roni@yahoo.com.br.