Papain: Baking, Meat Tenderizing, Wine Clarifying, Soy Sauce Brewing… The Food Industry Loses Quality Without It

Because of my profession, I have many friends in the food industry. After years of observation, I’ve noticed that any veteran in food R&D or procurement is very familiar with one product—papain.

To put it a bit dramatically, papain is to food what vitamins are to the human body; without it, the freshness, flavor, and texture of food drops a grade. In food manufacturing, it not only reduces or replaces harmful chemical additives, making products greener and healthier, but also lowers production costs and increases yield—a true win-win-win!

Thanks to its outstanding qualities, papain is now widely used across various sectors of the food industry, including baking, meat tenderizing, wine clarifying, soy sauce brewing, seasonings, protein powders, and animal and plant protein processing and hydrolysis. So, what exactly does papain do in these sectors? Let’s dive into the practical applications of papain.

01 Papain in the Baking Industry

Papain can reduce the gluten strength in flour/dough, improving its plasticity and physicochemical properties by hydrolyzing large protein molecules into short peptides and amino acids.

Lastly, it can correct the flavor impact of chemical additives, effectively improving the overall quality of cookies.

Used in bread, it makes the bread softer, more flavorful, with a glossy, appealing appearance and a subtle aroma.

For cookies, it speeds up browning, gives the cookies a vibrant color, a shiny, attractive finish, and a light, crisp texture. The cookie crumb structure is more pronounced, the layers are well-defined, and the breakage and cracking rates are reduced. The shape is full and even, with clear patterns and a smooth surface.

Additionally, it can reduce or replace sodium metabisulfite, minimizing the residual amounts of harmful substances like sulfur dioxide, making the products greener, healthier, and safer.

02 Papain in the Meat Products Industry

Papain can effectively tenderize a variety of meat products, such as beef tripe, tendons, chicken, duck, goose intestines, beef, and lamb, making the meat more tender, juicy, and without residue.

03 Papain in the Brewing Industry

Papain can be used as a wine clarifying agent, eliminating cold haze in wine and making the liquid clear.

Papain is also used as a fermentation agent in soy sauce brewing and wine making, increasing the nutritional value while reducing production costs.

04 Papain in the Animal and Plant Protein Processing Industry

Papain can hydrolyze large protein molecules from animal and plant sources into smaller, easily absorbed peptides or amino acids. It is widely used in the hydrolysis of animal and plant proteins, such as chicken, duck, pork, beef, seafood, blood products, soy, and peanuts. It is used to produce peptones, meat flavorings, plant flavorings, and more.

05 Papain Applications Beyond the Food Industry

Papain not only has extensive and important uses in various sectors of the food industry but is also widely used in the feed, personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, health supplements, textile, and leather industries.