ENZYMES

E nzymes are proteins that act as catalysts, driving chemical reactions in the cells of living organisms. Some enzymes cause reactions to occur quickly while others enable reactions to take place under more mild conditions. Enzymes can be very specific affecting only one type of reaction or more general having a wider affect. Reactions that are catalyzed by enzymes rarely produce any by-products.
This is very important within the body and is very useful in industrial applications. Enzymes aid in breathing and the hydrolysis of sugar. Over 1500 enzymes have already been identified. As catalysts, enzymes are not used up, rather they react and then are released again to remain in the system.

Enzymes have been used for many centuries in the making of cheese, bread and other food products.

On an industrial level, enzymes are used for many purposes and in many industries. In the food industry, the major uses of enzymes are in the baking, dairy, juice and ingredient industries. They are also used to hydrolyze proteins and modify fats and oils. In non-food industries, they are used in detergent production, the textile industry, the pulp and paper industry and in personal care products.

The identification and understanding of DNA led to gene-splicing and the development of bio-engineered enzymes. Now, many enzymes are produced using bioengineering. With the large demand for enzymes, industrial production has evolved to use different methods for the growth and production of enzymes. One such method of production is submerged fermentation. In this process, selected microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) are grown in closed vessels in the presence of liquid nutrients and oxygen. As the microorganisms break down the nutrients, they release enzymes into the solution. The nutrients are normally sterilized items like maize starch, sugars and soya grits. The process can be operated continuously or in a batch mode. The temperature of the vessels and the oxygen consumption and pH are carefully controlled to optimize enzyme production.

The use of microbial enzymes is more compatible with Halal food production, as it eliminates the use of animal derived enzymes. However, animal derived enzymes are still used in the food industry, particularly in the dairy industry. Cheese and whey produced using animal enzymes are haram if the source is non-Halal animals or Halal animals not processed according to Islamic requirements. Since whey is found in many non-dairy products, the use of animal derived enzymes to produce whey poses a big problem for the Halal consumer.

Hence Muslim consumers are strongly recommended to check a manufacturer of any product, that contains enzymes, cheese or whey, about the origin/source of enzyme they used in their processing.

IFANCA has certified a number of enzymes for use in the food and cosmetics industries. This includes enzymes produced by CHR Hansen A/S (Denmark), CHR Hansen GmbH (Germany), CHR Hansen Inc. (USA), Genencor International (USA), Novozymes A/S (Denmark), Novozymes North America Inc. (USA), Rhodia, Inc. (USA), Valley Research Inc. (USA), Wuxi Syder Bio-Products Co., Ltd. (China).