The effect of exogenous enzymes and mechanical treatment on mango purée: Effect on the molecular properties of pectic substances

Abstract

Recent studies showed that the functional properties of food suspensions are determined both by the plant-based particles and the serum properties, and the ratio between these two phases. This paper addresses the effect of enzymatic and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) treatments on the properties of bio-polymers present both in mango purée serum and particle phase. Hereto, fungal and bacterial commercial enzymes such as pectinmethylesterase (PME), endo-polygalacturonase (PG), endo-cellulase (endo-β-glucanase), and α-amylase without/with HPH (20 MPa) were used to treat mango purée. The treated purées were centrifuged in order to independently analyze both the serum and particle phase. The enzymatic treatments resulted in clear structural changes of the bio-polymers present in both phases. The relative amount of the serum phase clearly increased after both “PG and PME” and “α-amylase” treatments although due to different mechanisms. The conformation and weight average molecular weight of the polymers in solution was also significantly affected by both HPH and enzymatic treatments. These findings highlight the effect of enzymatic treatments on both particle and serum phase on fruit and vegetable based suspensions with and without an intense mechanical treatment and clearly show that both phases are accessible and affected leading to a range of opportunities in terms of product design.