Effect of Green Food Processing Technology on the Enzyme Activity in Spelt Flour

In this research, a new approach to enzyme inactivation in flour was presented by supercritical technology, considered a sustainable technology with lower energy consumption compared to other technologies that use ultra-high temperature processing. Total protein concentration and the activity of enzymes alpha-amylase, lipase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and protease were determined in flour pre-treated with scCO(2). During the study, it was observed that the activity of enzymes such as lipase and polyphenol oxidase, was significantly reduced under certain conditions of scCO(2) treatment, while the enzymes alpha-amylase and protease show better stability. In particular, polyphenol oxidase was effectively inactivated below the 60% of preserved activity at 200 bar and 3 h, whereas alpha-amylase under the same conditions retained its activity. Additionally, the moisture content of the scCO(2)-treated spelt flour was reduced by 5%, and the fat content was reduced by 58%, while the quality of scCO(2)-treated flour was maintained. In this regard, the sustainable scCO(2) process could be a valuable tool for controlling the enzymatic activity of spelt flour since the use of scCO(2) technology has a positive effect on the quality of flour, which was verified by the baking performance of spelt flour with the baked spelt bread as an indicator of quality.

Automated summary

In this study, a new approach to enzyme inactivation in flour was presented using supercritical technology, which showed positive effects on the quality of spelt flour, particularly in reducing the activity of enzymes such as lipase and polyphenol oxidase.