Sascha Rohn, Harshadrai Manilal Rawel, Jürgen Kroll

• Secondary plant metabolites are important native food components, which are becoming more and more interesting due to their physiological effects on humans. Some representatives of these compounds are very reactive and can interact with other main food components like proteins resp. enzymes. This work deals with the reactions of selected enzymes (trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin and alpha-amylase) with simple phenolic and related substances (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, meta-, ortho- and para-dihydroxybenzene, 1,4-benzoquinone, quinic acid). The derivatives formed were characterized in terms of their activity and selected physicochemical properties. In vitro experiments showed that the proteolytic digestion of food proteins with trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin derivatives was adversely affected. This decrease depends on the reactivity of the phenolic and related substances tested as well as on the kind of substrate applied. Reactions of phenolic compounds with other enzymes (alpha-amylase and lysozyme) showedSecondary plant metabolites are important native food components, which are becoming more and more interesting due to their physiological effects on humans. Some representatives of these compounds are very reactive and can interact with other main food components like proteins resp. enzymes. This work deals with the reactions of selected enzymes (trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin and alpha-amylase) with simple phenolic and related substances (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, meta-, ortho- and para-dihydroxybenzene, 1,4-benzoquinone, quinic acid). The derivatives formed were characterized in terms of their activity and selected physicochemical properties. In vitro experiments showed that the proteolytic digestion of food proteins with trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin derivatives was adversely affected. This decrease depends on the reactivity of the phenolic and related substances tested as well as on the kind of substrate applied. Reactions of phenolic compounds with other enzymes (alpha-amylase and lysozyme) showed similar results with regard to physicochemical properties and their activities.…