[Quantitative occurrence of lipolytic and proteolytic enzymes in food of animal origin]

Proteolytic and lipolytic enzymatic activities of microorganisms are the most important cause for food spoilage and a limited shelf life. Until now the determination of the total aerobic count is the base of shelf life evaluations. Our investigations show the proportion of proteolytes and lipolytes to the total germ count in different kinds of food (milk and milk products, meat products and fish) which is in part surprisingly high. Results were observed on different media--proteolytic germs were counted on protein containing agar (casein, meat protein, fish protein) and lipolytic organisms on fat containing agar (tributyrin, olive oil, butterfat). Using the predictive microbiology and the knowledge about the activity of microbial enzymes under different milieu conditions in food the results give an important tool for a better shelf life evaluation.