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Food-Industrial Biotechnology-Working areas
Industrial
Biotechnology uses microbes as well
as plant and animal cells at industrial levels for our benefits.
Industries covered under industrial biotechnology include - Food
Processing and Preservation; Enzyme, Dairy and Alcoholic Beverage
industries.
Food Biotechnology
uses microorganisms, cell cultures, cloning, transgenic organisms, or
recombinant DNA to produce, modify or test food. So it includes some
part of fermentation technology, plant and agriculture biotechnology
etc.
Working areas
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Microbial
Biotechnology: Controlled
used of microbes for
our benefits.
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Fermentation
Technology/Bioprocess engineering:
microbes or plant
or animal cells are cultured in a fermenter and either whole cells or
their byproducts are used for our benefits.
Traditional fermentation:
Beer, wine, and sprits (yeast) production
Modern fermentation:
Single cell protein , flavors and aroma compounds, colors, antimicrobials
and preservatives, enzymes, organic acids, amino acids and vitamins.
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Microbial
culture:
microorganisms
are cultured in an artificially prepared media and either whole
microorganism or its metabolic byproducts are consumed.
-
Algal culture
-
Gums
(Agar, Agarose, Alginate, Carageenan), Chemicals (β- carotene from
Dunailiella), Food (Single Cell Protein from Spirulina, Chlorella)
-
Bacterial
culture -
Production of
Vitamins, alcohol, Organic acids.
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Fungal culture
for Bioconversion or Microbial or Biological
Transformation –
conversion of
Progesterone (cheaply and plenteously available from Mares
Urine) into Cortisol using Rhizopus culture;
Antibiotics production
-
Mushroom
cultivation
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Transgenic
Microbes:
developed for following purposes:
-
Hormone
production-
Human Insulin
production by E. Coli and Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces
cerevisiae)
-
Artificial
sweeteners -
Thaumatin a protein from Thaumatococcus danielli, which is
3000 times sweeter to sugar has been genetically engineered in
E. coli and Saccharomyces
-
Metabolic
Engineering -
Overproduction
of metabolites - by shortening or modifying (via adding and deleting
genes of microbial) metabolic pathways
–as a result Production Cost of the metabolites is Minimized. Other
main products of industrial biotechnology are enzymes. Enzymes are
used in detergent e.g. subtilisin (a protease), amylases and
lipases. Only enzyme industry of world is over 4.5 billion US
Dollar.
-
Genetically
modified Food production-
like Flavr Savr Tomato which shows delayed ripening thus prolonged
shelf life; other examples, decaffeinated coffee and
banana vaccine.
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