Microbial transglutaminase: An overview of recent applications in food and packaging

The glue of proteins, microbial transglutaminase (MTG) has been adopted in the food processing industries for its broad enzymatic action. Microorganisms such as Streptoverticillium and Streptomyces are the major sources, to decrease the cost of manufacturing animal origin transglutaminase. The net % increase of its demands in the food processing is estimated at 21.9% per year. In fact, MTG is consumed by most food industries, spanning the meat, dairy, seafood and fish, plant proteins, edible film preparation and more. It used to improve gelation and change foaming, emulsification, viscosity, consistency and water-holding capacity properties. This paper presents an overview of the literature that described and explored the recent microbial origins, production media and applications of microbial transglutaminase.