Tenderness+of+Meat+(Kevin+Sun)

Meat oh so Tender!
 * //Ever wonder…//**
 * //Have you ever wondered why restaurant’s meats are so tender, so chewable? Enzyme is the reason.//**


 * __Basic Information:__**
 * Papain** is in the dried latex obtained from the papaya (Carica papaya) fruit, this enzyme is most commonly used for the food processing applications. Papain is obtained by cutting the skin of the unripe but almost mature papaya and then collecting and drying the latex which flows from the cuts.


 * Bromelain** is a mixture of protein-digesting enzymes found in pineapples (Ananas comosus). Bromelain supplements contain active substances that aid digestion and help reduce inflammation.

Proteases act as catalysts for a single reaction, converting a specific set of reactants, called substrates, into specific products.
 * Enzymes** are proteins that can increase the rate of biological changes such as the ripening of fruit. Papain and bromelain are proteolytic enzymes or proteases, enzymes specialized in breaking the peptide bonds in proteins. When Papain is changed in to the form of enzyme, the name is changed to proteases. Enzymes can be generally recognised by the ending –ase.

Papain’s common substrate is gelatin.
 * __The Substrates__**//://

In the history of cooking the previous way of tenderizing meat was to inject the enzymes into living animals, how ever this usage is almost obsolete. The other way is that the enzymes when meat is being marinated, where the meat is soaked and absorbed with bromelain and papin causing the meat to be tender and more chewy. Other ways of tenderizing meat is the usage of powder. Nowadays consumer can buy meat with already “tenderized” with papain and bromelain powder make it easy and ready to cook. This process is called "forking", which the enzyme penetrates the meat within seconds of cooking. Other enzymatic tenderizers are mixed with spices to produce flavors.
 * __Process/Applications:__**

//The use of Papain// is advantageous in several ways. First, because enzymes become very unstable at high temperature, //Papain//, is the most high temperature stable enzyme, and can withstand temperature ranges from 170 to 185 degrees. Second, the pH level is another key factor. Because //Papain// has a very close pH level with the meat, it is difficult to denature the enzyme. Other than //Papain,// //Bromelain on the other hand, a//lso has it advantages. //Bromelain’s// rate of action is similiar to that of papain, therefore the two enzyme can be used cooperatively.
 * __Advantage:__**

Sources Used: http://www.itdg.org/docs/technical_information_service/papain.pdf http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Enzyme http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Bromelaincs.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromelain