Effect of high-pressure processing on enzyme activity in roots, cereals, nuts, and their products

Controlling endogenous enzyme activity in crops is often important during food processing steps involving catalysis and in ensuring quality during postharvest storage and downstream processing. High-pressure processing (HPP) has attracted significant interest as an alternative to thermal treatment, which remains the most common method of enzyme modulation, given its distinctive benefits of pressure-induced stability for improved catalysis and, under higher pressures, enzyme inactivation with minimal reduction in product quality or nutritional value. This chapter summarizes existing research and provides an outlook on the effects of HPP on endogenous enzymes in roots, cereals, and nuts—ranging from the variable effects of HPP on the activity of quality-related enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase in root vegetables to the impact of pressure on the thermostability of cereal enzymes used in the brewing industry. Open questions and potential future directions of HPP research on roots, cereals, nuts, and their products are also discussed.