Identification of enzyme origin in dough improvers: DNA-based and proteomic approaches

Enzymatic dough improvers (DIs) are increasingly used as baking co-adjuvants. Herein, an array of techniques, including Western blotting, PCR, electrophoresis-based and shotgun proteomics, was addressed to identify the enzymes in six commercial DI preparations. In particular, this work sought to exclude the possible undeclared use of amylolytic enzymes from porcine (or other animal origin) pancreas in DIs. PCR-amplified mitochondrial cytochrome b (mt cyt b) gene region and porcine pancreatic α-amylase were the targets of DNA-based and protein methods, respectively, both assuring a limit of detection lower than 0.5–0.1% (w/w). Aspergillum oryzae α-amylase and Hordeum vulgare (barley) β-amylase were the most represented enzymes in all DI samples. Although one sample was PCR-positive, none among the DIs contained porcine pancreatic enzymes. Comparative gas chromatographic analysis of fatty acids suggested that the porcine contamination might arise from hard fats of porcine origin (lard), emphasizing the need of performing analyses at the protein level when the targets are enzymes or proteins.