Food quality and processing
Biotechnology can play a major role in enhancing food quality, and in improving food processing techniques, whether by enabling us to improve the quality of the raw materials, or to reduce the use of farm chemicals, or to improve food safety, or to develop new and more efficient processes. Biotech-based enzymes, for example, are already used in the food industry to produce cheese and brew beer, to keep bread fresh, and to produce sweeteners, flavours and vitamins.
Fermentation and flavour
Quality rather than price is increasingly the dominant feature of competitiveness in the food products and ingredients markets. Biotechnology can be employed to improve food quality in various ways, such as providing novel starter cultures and adjuncts to improve the flavour of fermented foods. Over the last 10 years Ireland has established an internationally recognised research programme focused on the starter and flavour bacteria used in the food industry and especially their genetic analysis and improvement. This programme has produced efficient systems to genetically manipulate starter cultures, and identified the genes that control many of the bacteria's commercially important traits.
To exploit these valuable food bacteria, and especially to manipulate them as 'cell factories', we need yet more detailed analysis of their genetic make-up. The long-term aim is to produce bacterial strains that can manufacture valuable metabolites such as organic acids, flavour compounds and substances that can promote human health. Simultaneously, we need new genetic tools to facilitate this work using a process called 'self cloning', as this does not entail the use of foreign DNA, a procedure which may not find favour with some consumers. Finally, the availability of novel enzymes would provide the food processing industry with greater choice and the ability to innovate, leading to more diverse product ranges, with more intense and interesting flavour ingredients, and the use of less severe processing technologies and fewer chemicals. Priorities in this area are:
- Genome analysis of starter cultures, including the development of DNA micro-arrays to study genome diversity, structure and function
- Metabolic engineering of starter bacteria aimed towards valuable end-products such as flavour compounds, amino acids, commercial enzymes and nutrients
- Detailed studies of the metabolic pathways in food bacteria with a view to improved fermentation and flavour development
- Developing novel enzymes for food processing
Bio-processes
A key area in developing new food products and ingredients involves 'bio-processes', notably fermentation technology and the use of molecular separation processes to convert indigenous raw materials into value-added, innovative products. Commercial opportunities in Ireland include the separation and fractionation of milk and whey components, and using micro-organisms to convert milk and beet sugars into natural ingredients for the food and animal feed industries. Establishing a significant capability in bio-processing and fermentation technology will open the way to developing a national culture supply, based on our research into dairy cultures and probiotics. Priorities in bio-process development are:
- Develop innovative protein separation technologies (eg molecular sieving and ion-exchange) for isolating unique protein ingredients from indigenous raw materials
- Strengthen our national capabilities in fermentation technology, with a view to producing a range of products, including enzymes for industrial uses, probiotics for incorporation into food products, and metabolites such as flavour compounds for use as food ingredients
