Engineered Biocatalytic Strategies for Pesticide Degradation in Food Systems: From Catalytic Performance to Practical...

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Biotechnology
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Pesticide residues pose a significant food safety risk, especially after processing and storage.
• Enzymatic degradation is a selective, mild, and food-compatible method for pesticide removal.
• Current limitations include low efficiency, poor stability, reusability issues, scalability, and regulatory hurdles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an application-focused review of enzymatic pesticide degradation.
• To highlight engineering strategies for improving enzyme performance and robustness.
• To analyze barriers and applications for real-world implementation.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent advancements in natural enzymes, nanozymes, and cascade systems.
• Discussion of emerging AI-assisted design and synthetic biology approaches.
• Critical analysis of challenges in applying lab systems to food matrices.

Main Results:

• Engineering strategies significantly enhance enzyme efficiency, stability, and reusability.
• AI and synthetic biology offer novel avenues for enzyme development.
• Key barriers to industrial application include matrix effects and cost-effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• Enzymatic pesticide degradation holds great promise for food safety.
• Further research and development are needed to overcome practical implementation challenges.
• Applications in postharvest washing, active packaging, and sensing platforms show potential.