ASPARAGINASE FROM ASPERGILLUS NIGER EXPRESSED IN A. NIGER

摘要

At the request of the Codex Committee on Food Additives at its Thirty-ninth Session (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2007), the Committee evaluated a preparation containing the enzyme asparaginase derived from a genetically modified strain of Aspergillus niger. The systematic name of asparaginase is L-asparagine amidohydrolase, and its Enzyme Commission (EC) number is 3.5.1.1. The Committee had previously evaluated asparaginase from a genetically modified strain of Aspergillus oryzae at its sixty-eighth meeting (Annex 1, reference 187). Asparaginase catalyses the hydrolysis of the amino acid L-asparagine to L-aspartic acid and ammonia. The enzyme is intended for use as a processing aid to reduce in food the levels of free L-asparagine, which is a major precursor in the formation of the food contaminant acrylamide. Asparaginase will be added to food prior to the heating step and will be denatured and inactivated as a result of heat treatment.