Ch. 6— The Food Processing Industry • 113 
tation. riie possibilit\ of using microbes to cou- 
[)le tbe two amino acids is being imestigated in 
at least one biotecbnoIog\' I’esearcb fii in. Cliem- 
I ical production of as|Kirtame is e.\pensi\e and 
benefits from biotecbnologx' are possible. 
Monellin and thaumatin are natural sub- 
stances— proteins obtained from W est African 
plants. Both are intenseK’ sweet— up to 100, ()()() 
times sweeter than table sugar— and the sensa- 
tion of sweetness can last for hours. Their 
microbial pi'oduction ma\ be competiti\e with 
tbeii’ e.xtraction from plants. Since the physical 
and biological properties of thaumatin are 
known, it might also be prcKluced through ge- 
netic engineering. Such an approach would not 
onl\' increase the available su[)ply, but would 
offer new molecules for in\ estigating tbe phvsi- 
olog\' of taste. 
Other flavors and fragrances show less prom- 
ise at present. Although tbe chemistry of sev- 
eral flav ors and aromas has been identified, too 
little research into their use has been con- 
ducted. * 
'Ret't'iil woi'k on tin’ Ibrmation by niic'm-oi'gani.snis of flavor 
and aroma chcmiral.s known as larlones and toi'penoids has been 
roporlcd. I^iclones ociiir as flavor-contributinf' components in 
main fermentation products, w here they are formed by microltial 
reactions. Different |)alhways e.xist for their microbial foi niation. 
I■.(^., {'amma-luityrolactone, which is formed diii'ing yeast fermen- 
tation. is found in sherry, wine, and beer. As early as 1930, an or- 
ganism was i.solated from orange lea\ es that had a peach-like odor 
and was thought to he Sporoholomyces roseus. The lactones, 4- 
di'canolide and cis-6-dodecen-4-olide were found to he responsi- 
ble. 
Overview 
The application of genetic engineering will af- 
fect the food processing industry in piecemeal 
fashion. Isolated successes can be e.xpected for 
certain food additives, such as aspartame (not 
yet approved hv the Food and Drug Administra- 
tion (FDA) for sale in the United States) and fruc- 
tose, and for improvements in SCP production. 
But an industrywide impact is not expected in 
the near future because of several conflicting 
forces: 
• The basic genetic knowledge of character- 
istics that could improve food has not been 
adequately dev eloped. 
• The food processing industry is conserva- 
tive in its research and development ex- 
penditures for improved processes, gener- 
ally allocating less than half as much as 
more technologically sophisticated indus- 
tries. 
• Products made by new microbial sources 
must satisfy FDA safety regulations, which 
include undergoing tests to prove lack of 
harmful effects.* It may be possible to re- 
*E.g.. all food additi\es and micro-organisms used in food proc- 
essing must be approved as generally regarded as safe. 
duce the amount of required testing by 
transferring the desired gene into micro- 
organisms that already meet FDA stand- 
ards. 
Nevertheless, the application of new genetic 
technologies will probably accelerate. Techno- 
logically sophisticated companies are being 
drawn into the business. Traditionally capital- 
intensive companies such as Union Carbide, 
ITT, General Electric, Corning Glass, and 
McDonnell-Douglas can be expected to intro- 
duce automation and more sophisticated engi- 
neering to food processing, modernizing the in- 
dustry’s technology. As has been noted by one 
industry observer:* 
You don’t work on a better way to preserve 
fish. You try to change the system so that you 
no longer catch fish; you "manufacture” them 
and, if possible, do it right on top of your mar- 
ket so that you don’t have to preserve them at 
all. 
'M. L. Kastens, "The Coming Food Industry," Chemtech, April 
1980, pp. 215-217. 
