BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE PRODUCTION AND MODIFICATION OF BIOPOLYMERS FOR FOODS

Long-chain, high-molecular-weight polymers that dissolve or disperse in water to give thickening and sometimes gelling and/or emulsifying effects are indispensable tools in food product formulation. Most of these polymers are polysaccharides, and their functional properties in foods are determined by quite subtle structural characteristics. Biotechnology offers the means for the modification of biopolymer structure to achieve desirable changes in functional properties. In this article, the impact of recent advances in traditional biotechnology (fermentation and enzymology), as well as in the newer sciences of molecular biology (genetic manipulation and protein engineering), on the development of food biopolymers is critically assessed.