Biocatalytic modification of food lipids: reactions and applications

 

R. Baeza-Jiménez, L.X. López-Martínez and H.S. García

 

 

The acylglycerol structure exemplifies the major lipid building block and therefore is an interesting structure to modify. Such modification is driven by: (1) consumers who have become more concerned about the relationship between diet and wellness, and (2) new and novel functional compounds can be prepared when the original structure of a lipid is modified. This trend has led to the design of functional foods or nutraceuticals, namely, fortified, enriched, modified and enhanced foods. Advances in the biochemistry and engineering of enzymatic reactions and reactors have improved the knowledge and understanding of such reaction systems and thus, make available a generation of structured lipids. In the present work, we detail several efforts carried out to prepare novel compounds, as well as industrial applications and possible future enzymatic procedures to obtain new food products.