Perspectives of Solid State Fermentation for Production of Food Enzymes

Food industry represents one of the economic sectors where microbial metabolites have found a wide variety of applications. This is the case of some enzymes, such as amylases, cellulases, pectinases and proteases which have played a very important role as food additives. Most of these enzymes have been produced by submerged cultures at industrial level. Many works in the literature present detailed aspects involved with those enzymes and their importance in the food industry. However, the production and application studies of those enzymes produced by solid state fermentations are scarce in comparison with submerged fermentation. This review involves production aspects of the seven enzymes: tannases, pectinases, caffeinases, mannanases, phytases, xylanases and proteases, which can be produced by solid state fermentation showing attractive advantages. Additionally, process characteristics of solid state fermentation are considered.