Aplicação de proteases do pericarpo dos frutos de Morinda citrifolia L. na produção de queijos

Abstract

Proteases can be utilised for milk clotting, a fundamental step in cheese manufacturing. Chymosin from the calf abomasum is a traditional coagulant. However, its use has been discouraged due to decreased animal supply, growing numbers of vegetarian diets, and cultural and religious reasons. In this context, plant proteases are an interesting alternative to animal chymosin. It has recently been shown that cysteine proteases from Morinda citrifolia L. (noni) fruits are capable of hydrolysing milk proteins competitively with commercial animal rennet. Therefore, the present work aimed to analyse the feasibility of utilising noni proteases as a new product for cheese making. Thus, the following aspects were considered: the Brazilian law requirements for food products regulation; and trends in the general protease and vegetable markets in the production of cheeses through technological patent prospecting. First, the new product was defined as noni puree extract (EPN) in its powder form. It is formulated with L-cysteine and calcium chloride. Some relevant characteristics of EPN are the major composition of carbohydrates (57.79%) and its proteins hydrolyses in gastric simulation in vitro. Pepsin digestibility gives no evidence of allergenic proteins. Subchronic toxicity testing on rodents was also performed by treating them with a dose of 5 mg/kg of EPN proteins. All animals survived and showed normal clinical signs and necropsy. Relative fresh body weight and haematological analyses were also normal, with some specific changes. However, for an accurate interpretation of these data, a correlation with results of biochemical and histopathological analyses is required. Regarding the technological prospecting, there were many patents on proteases and very few on plant proteases, both in the worldwide collection of the European platform Espacenet and in the Brazilian repository of the National Institute of Industrial Property. The main investors are companies and the main protection markets are China and the United States. Brazil is practically absent in this segment of innovation, since most patents protected nationally are from foreign origin. Therefore, milkclotting enzymes are an area with plenty opportunities for technological development, being the noni puree extract a meaningful candidate to be exploited.