Endogenous wheat enzymes: natural keys to stronger gluten and better bread
Maximum Academic Press
The study highlights the catalytic roles of enzymes such as sulfhydryl oxidase (SOX), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), ascorbate oxidase (AAO) , and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) in promoting disulfide and covalent bond formation within gluten proteins. By clarifying their molecular mechanisms, the review demonstrates how natural enzymatic processes can replace chemical oxidants, paving the way for safer “clean label” wheat-based foods with improved elasticity, stability, and sensory qualities.
Wheat is one of the world’s most widely cultivated crops, prized not only for its nutritional value but also for its unique ability to form viscoelastic dough. This property is primarily governed by gluten proteins—gliadins and glutenins—whose structure and interactions determine dough extensibility, elasticity, and gas-holding capacity. Traditionally, breadmaking has relied on chemical oxidants like potassium bromate to enhance gluten strength, but safety concerns and consumer demand for natural products have accelerated interest in endogenous enzymatic alternatives. In this context, researchers overview the catalytic systems already present in wheat itself—enzymes capable of catalyzing thiol–disulfide exchanges, redox reactions, and cross-linking processes. These naturally occurring enzymes not only enhance dough and bread quality but also align with industry efforts toward sustainability and clean processing. Based on these challenges, there is a pressing need to explore endogenous enzyme systems as safe and effective substitutes for chemical improvers.
A study (DOI: 10.48130/fia-0025-0030) published in Food Innovation and Advances on 24 July 2025 by Jinshui Wang’s team, Henan University of Technology, concludes that endogenous enzymes regulate gluten cross-linking through diverse redox and covalent bond-forming mechanisms, directly shaping dough performance and bread quality.
This review provides a systematic exploration of the four central enzyme families in wheat. SOX catalyzes thiol oxidation, strengthening gluten networks and producing hydrogen peroxide that can further enhance cross-linking. PDI ensures proper protein folding by rearranging mispaired disulfide bonds, thus stabilizing the gluten structure and improving elasticity. AAO and DHAR work together to maintain redox balance: AAO converts ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbate, generating intermediates that form new disulfide bonds, while DHAR recycles dehydroascorbate back to ascorbic acid to sustain antioxidant capacity. Beyond these, other enzymes—tyrosinase, laccase, peroxidase, catalase, lipoxygenase, lipase, and NAD(P)H-dependent dehydrogenases—contribute additional layers of protein and polysaccharide cross-linking. Collectively, these enzymes modulate gluten’s physicochemical state, influencing dough viscoelasticity, loaf volume, and crumb texture. Importantly, the review emphasizes that the natural enzyme system in wheat provides a theoretical foundation for clean-label strategies, as it minimizes the risks associated with exogenous chemicals. The authors also highlight the role of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence-based protein modeling (e.g., AlphaFold2 and generative design tools), which may accelerate the rational design of enzyme variants tailored for industrial baking conditions. By mapping both catalytic pathways and practical applications, the review integrates molecular biology, food chemistry, and processing technology into a coherent framework for wheat improvement.
In summary, this review underscores that endogenous wheat enzymes hold untapped potential for naturally enhancing dough and bread quality. Their ability to promote gluten cross-linking, maintain redox balance, and stabilize protein networks provides a safer, more sustainable alternative to chemical improvers. For the food industry and consumers alike, endogenous enzymes represent a promising path toward safer, higher-quality, and clean-label wheat products.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/fia-0025-0030
Funding information
This work was supported by the Joint Fund of Science and Technology Research and Development Plan of Henan Province in 2022 (225200810110); Scientific and Collaborative Innovation Special Project of Zhengzhou, Henan Province (21ZZXTCX03); Youth teachers in colleges and universities of Henan province fund (2023GGJS061); Special Funds to Subsidize Scientific Research Projects in Zhengzhou R&D (22ZZRDZX34); and the open project program of the National Engineering Research Center of Wheat and Corn Further Processing, Henan University of Technology (NL2022016).
About Food Innovation and Advances
Food is essential to life and relevant to human health. The rapidly increasing global population presents a major challenge to supply abundant, safe, and healthy food into the future. The open access journal Food Innovation and Advances (e-ISSN 2836-774X), published by Maximum Academic Press in association with China Agricultural University, Zhejiang University and Shenyang Agricultural University, publishes high-quality research results related to innovations and advances in food science and technology. The journal will strive to contribute to food sustainability in the present and future.
Journal
Food Innovation and Advances
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Role of endogenous wheat enzymes on gluten cross-linking and dough and bread properties: a review
Plant steroid hormones speed up grape ripening and boost berry quality
Maximum Academic Press
By applying epibrassinolide (EBR), a synthetic BR analog, researchers accelerated berry coloration, boosted anthocyanin content, enhanced sugar accumulation, and promoted softening through cell wall modification. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that BRs not only regulate ripening directly but also interact with other hormone networks, including abscisic acid, ethylene, auxin, and cytokinin.
Grapes (Vitis spp.) are globally cultivated for their economic and nutritional value. Their ripening follows a tightly regulated process influenced by several plant hormones. Abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene are well-known promoters, while auxin and cytokinin generally act as inhibitors. BRs, a class of more than 70 steroid-like molecules, have gained attention for their roles in plant growth, stress tolerance, and fruit development. In grapes, BRs levels naturally increase at the onset of ripening, while chemical inhibition delays véraison, underscoring their importance. Despite this, the gene networks through which BRs orchestrate ripening remain poorly understood. Due to these challenges, deeper research into BR-mediated transcriptional control of grape ripening is needed.
A study (DOI: 10.48130/fia-0025-0024) published in Food Innovation and Advances on 26 June 2025 by Xiangpeng Leng’s & Xudong Zhu’s team, Qingdao Agricultural University, demonstrates how fine-tuning BR pathways can improve grape flavor, appearance, and texture, offering a promising, eco-friendly strategy for viticulture and fruit quality enhancement.
The study employed a multi-tiered strategy combining physiological, biochemical, and molecular analyses to investigate how EBR, a brassinosteroid, regulates grape berry ripening. Exogenous application of EBR significantly accelerated development, with treated clusters achieving full coloration by day 15, accompanied by elevated endogenous BRs at days 5–10. Sugars including glucose and fructose accumulated more rapidly, while titratable acids such as tartaric, malic, and citric declined, enhancing flavor balance. LC–MS profiling revealed a marked increase in total anthocyanins, from ~85.5 to 179.4 mg/kg at day 10 and ~274.9 to 385.4 mg/kg at day 15, dominated by peonidin-3-O-glucoside (~50%) and supported by rising levels of malvidin-3-O-glucoside. Transcriptomic sequencing across four ripening stages generated over 100 Gb of data, identifying thousands of differentially expressed genes enriched in hormone signaling, phenylpropanoid/flavonoid biosynthesis, and carbon metabolism. BRs induced anthocyanin biosynthetic genes (VvPAL, VvCHS, VvF3H, VvUFGT), transport and methylation genes (VvGST, VvAOMT), and modulated sugar/acid metabolism genes while reshaping hormone networks by enhancing ABA and ethylene signaling and suppressing auxin-related transcripts. At the structural level, EBR reduced cellulose and protopectin, elevated water-soluble pectin, and up-regulated VvPME, VvEXP, and VvCEL, promoting berry softening. qRT-PCR validated RNA-seq patterns. Functional confirmation came from strawberry, where transient overexpression of VvDWF4, a key BR biosynthetic enzyme, increased BR content, doubled anthocyanin levels, intensified red coloration, and accelerated softening through cell-wall modification. Collectively, the results provide compelling evidence that BRs orchestrate grape ripening through coordinated regulation of secondary metabolism, hormone cross-talk, and cell-wall dynamics, offering a potential eco-friendly strategy to improve fruit quality.
The discovery positions brassinosteroids as powerful, eco-friendly tools for viticulture and fruit production. Low-dose applications of EBR could serve as a practical method to enhance grape berry quality—improving flavor, visual appeal, and market value while potentially reducing reliance on synthetic chemicals. By fine-tuning hormone cross-talk, growers could achieve more consistent ripening, shorten harvest windows, and improve storage properties. Beyond grapes, the results may apply to other fruit crops such as strawberries, tomatoes, and mangoes, where BRs influence ripening and softening. However, the relatively high cost of natural BRs may limit large-scale application, highlighting the need for affordable synthetic analogs or targeted gene-editing approaches to harness this pathway.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/fia-0025-0024
Funding information
This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Plan of Shandong Province (Grant Nos 2022LZGCQY019, 2023TZXD015 and 2022TZXD0011), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant Nos 32102353, 32202449, and 32202430), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (Grant No. 24KJB210009), the Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Educational Committee (Grant No. 2024AH051983), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (Grant No. BK20190542), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos ZR2021QC005 and ZR2022QC018), Construction of genetic transformation of Grape (Grant No. SDAG2021A03), Inner Mongolia Science Technology Plan (Grant No. 2022YFDZ0029), the Unveiling and Commanding project of the West Coast new area of Qingdao (2022-23) and Qingdao Agricultural University Enterprise Cooperation Projects (Grant No. 660/2424191).
About Food Innovation and Advances
Food is essential to life and relevant to human health. The rapidly increasing global population presents a major challenge to supply abundant, safe, and healthy food into the future. The open access journal Food Innovation and Advances (e-ISSN 2836-774X), published by Maximum Academic Press in association with China Agricultural University, Zhejiang University and Shenyang Agricultural University, publishes high-quality research results related to innovations and advances in food science and technology. The journal will strive to contribute to food sustainability in the present and future.
Journal
Food Innovation and Advances
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Effect of brassinosteroids on grape berry ripening by coordinating transcriptomic and metabolic analysis
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