Applying combinatorial chemistry and biology to food research

In the past decade combinatorial chemistry has become a major focus of research activity in the pharmaceutical industry for accelerating the development of novel therapeutic compounds. The same combinatorial strategies could be applied to a broad spectrum of areas in agricultural and food research, including food safety and nutrition, development of product ingredients, and processing and conversion of natural products. In contrast to "rational design", the combinatorial approach relies on molecular diversity and high-throughput screening. The capability of exploring the structural and functional limits of a vast population of diverse chemical and biochemical molecules makes it possible to expedite the creation and isolation of compounds of desirable and useful properties. Several studies in recent years have demonstrated the utility of combinatorial methods for food research. These include the discovery of synthetic antimicrobial, antioxidative, and aflatoxin-binding peptides, the identification and analysis of unique flavor compounds, the generation of new enzyme inhibitors, the development of therapeutic antibodies for botulinum neurotoxins, the synthesis of unnatural polyketides and carotenoids, and the modification of food enzymes with novel properties. The results of such activities could open a large area of applications with potential benefits to the food industry. This review describes the current techniques of combinatorial chemistry and their applications, with emphasis on examples in food science research.