FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY

Contents

• What is Food biotechnology
• History of food biotechnology
• Importance of food biotechnology
• Application of food biotechnology
• Role of food biotechnology in industries
• Genetically modified food (GM foods)
• Examples of GM foods
• Risk factors of GM foods
• Safety regulations
• Future of food biotechnology

What is Food biotechnology?

• Food biotechnology is the branch of food science in which modern biotechnological techniques are applied to improve food production or food itself.
• Food biotechnology employs the tools of modern genetics to enhance beneficial traits of plants, animals and microorganisms for food production. It involves adding or extracting select genes to achieve desired traits.
• Food biotechnology is the application of technologies to make or modify animals, plants, and microorganisms, which have desired production, marketing, or nutrition related properties to obtain food.

History of food biotechnology

• Food biotechnology is not new. For thousands of years people have been discovering that fruit juices ferment into wine, that milk can be used to develop products such as cheese or yogurt, or that beer can be made through the fermentation of malt and hops. In the 1860s, the scientist Gregor Mendel illuminated the genetic principles behind how parent plants donate certain traits to their progeny. These principles were used to breed hybrid corn, wheat, and many other crops in which certain traits could be selected in order to increase plant yield. Such breeding methods largely accounted for the phenomenal gains in crop productivity during the 20^th century and led to modern farming practices.�Today, in the arena of food, the primary goals of food biotechnology are to provide a more abundant, less expensive, and a more nutritious food supply in order to address the needs of our growing global population.

Importance of food biotechnology

• For a very long time, scientists have been struggling to find the ways to increase both the quality and quantity of food for rapidly growing population of the world. Food Biotechnology has proven its use and importance in the industry by making enormous improvement in the quality, nutritional content, health benefits, taste etc. in a particular food Item. Food biotechnology is aimed to make the food items cost-effective as well. It has promised to provide safer food as it reduces the amount of pesticides or chemicals used in growing specific food item. It ensures:
• Cost effective�Safety of food�Sustainability of food�To feed the entire hungry world

Application of food biotechnology

• The application of biotechnology in the food processing has to an increase in food production and enhanced the quality and safety of food.�Through food biotechnology scientists have enhanced crop’s resistance to diseases and environmental stresses, allowing crops to be grown in relatively unsuitable and unproductive land.�The creation of pathogen, insect and herbicide –resistant transgenic plants have led to increased productivity and decreased costs of producing many food crops.

• Biotechnology also helps in improving the dairy and meat production by the production of different enzymes and processes to make them fresh and toxic free.�Ex- use of genetic techniques to manipulate bacteria that are important to the dairy industry. Both classical and molecular approaches have been used to improve strains involved in yoghurt and cheese production.�Use of different bacteria to improve the quality and texture of meat

Role of food biotechnology in industries

• Biotechnology is widely used in food industries to produce different food products such as genetically modified food, to enhance the taste, to enhance the yield, to increase the shelf life and to improve the nutritive value.
• Food industries use various enzymes that are generated with the help of biotechnology. Enzymes produced by biotechnology are used in food production and food processing. These enzymes are produced by using genetically modified organisms.
• Some of the genetically modified enzymes and their role in food industry is follows:

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• Catalase enzymes are used to produce a thick sauce called mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is commonly used in sandwiches as dressing

• Chymosin is used in cheese making.�- α amylase is used for baking purposes.�- Protease is used to make meat tender in a process known as meat tenderization process. It is also for other purposes like in baking and making of dairy products

Role of food biotechnology in industries

• Biotechnology can be used to increase the shelf life of food products. Many juicy fruits such as tomatoes have a short shelf life. For transportation purposes, tomatoes are picked before ripening and they are later ripened using ethylene. However, temperature changes influence the ripening process. High temperatures can lead to early ripening while low temperatures can lower the taste. Biotechnology solved this problem through the production of genetically engineered/modified tomatoes. Genetically modified tomatoes have a longer shelf life and hence they can be transported easily

Genetically modified food ( GM food)

• Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits when compared to previous methods, such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.

Examples of GM foods

• Corn: Corn is the most commonly grown crop in the United States, and most of it is GMO. Most GMO corn is created to resist insect pests or tolerate herbicides.
• Soybean: Most soy grown in the United States is GMO soy. Most GMO soy is used for food for animals, predominantly poultry and livestock, and making soybean oil.
• Cotton: GMO cotton was created to be resistant to bollworms and helped revive the Alabama cotton industry. GMO cotton not only provides a reliable source of cotton for the textile industry, it is also used to make cottonseed oil, which is used in packaged foods and in many restaurants for frying.
• Potato: GMO potatoes were developed to resist insect pests and disease. In addition, some GMO potato varieties have been developed to resist bruising and browning that can occur when potatoes are packaged, stored, and transported, or even cut in your kitchen.

• Papaya: A GMO papaya, named the Rainbow papaya, was created to resist ringspot virus. This GMO saved papaya farming on the Hawaiian Islands.
• Summer Squash:GMO summer squash is resistant to some plant viruses. Squash was one of the first GMOs on the market, but it is not widely grown.
• FLAVR SAVR TOMATO:Scientists genetically modified tomatoes to reduce the amount of enzyme polygalactouranase (breaks down pectin in cell wall) so that they may posses longer shell life.
• GOLDEN RICE: Rice is one of the main content in diet of most of the human population. Rice is rich in nutrients except certain vitamins like, vitamin A.
• Sugar Beet: Sugar beets are used to make granulated sugar. More than half the granulated sugar packaged for grocery store shelves is made from GMO sugar beets. Because GMO sugar beets are resistant to herbicides, growing GMO sugar beets helps farmers control weeds in their fields.

Risk factors of GM foods

• With the increased use of developing techniques in food biotechnology, we also have increased level of risks associated with them.�The development of techniques devised for the genetic manipulation of foods poses new risks for children with food allergy (FA).�This allergic reaction happens when a certain protein/allergen present in the GM crop enters the body and stimulates an immune response.
• Many genetically engineered crops and plants are found to health hazard while transgenic animals are also a part of p concern with increasing risk of their side effects.� Food-borne illness is a major international problem and an important cause of reduced economic growth.

• Various factors contribute to the food borne illness. The main ones are:

�i) inadequate food manipulation�ii) improper holding temperatures (failing to properly refrigerate food);�iii) inadequate cooking�iv) contaminated equipment (failure to clean and disinfect kitchen or processing plant equipment)�v) poor personal hygiene

Safety regulations

• While producing foodstuffs, packaging or simply storing finished ready-made food, specific steps in Hygiene protocol have to be taken to ensure that cross-contamination of particles, viable or non- viable, entering production zones does not occur.� There is a need to ensure products, whether they be confectionery, nutritional or dry-foods, are made safely.

Future of food biotechnology

• Food biotechnology has the potential to:�Reduce natural toxins in plants� Provide simpler and faster ways to detect pathogens�Extend freshness
• Increase farming efficiency

Future of food biotechnology

• The future for food biotechnology is tremendous.�It has the potential to:
• Make farming more efficient by using less land to�grow more crops and meet the increased food demands of the world�Reduce natural toxins in plants�Provide simpler and faster ways to detect pathogens�Extend freshness in our produce

Thank you

References

• https://www.image.slideserve.com
• https://www.vedantu.com�https://www.image.slidesharecdn.com
• https://slideplayer.com/amp/13721069/
• https://www.S3.amazonaws.com

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