Internet Databases of the Properties, Enzymatic Reactions, and Metabolism of Small Molecules—Search Options and Applications in Food Science

Abstract

Internet databases of small molecules, their enzymatic reactions, and metabolism have emerged as useful tools in food science. Database searching is also introduced as part of chemistry or enzymology courses for food technology students. Such resources support the search for information about single compounds and facilitate the introduction of secondary analyses of large datasets. Information can be retrieved from databases by searching for the compound name or structure, annotating with the help of chemical codes or drawn using molecule editing software. Data mining options may be enhanced by navigating through a network of links and cross-links between databases. Exemplary databases reviewed in this article belong to two classes: tools concerning small molecules (including general and specialized databases annotating food components) and tools annotating enzymes and metabolism. Some problems associated with database application are also discussed. Data summarized in computer databases may be used for calculation of daily intake of bioactive compounds, prediction of metabolism of food components, and their biological activity as well as for prediction of interactions between food component and drugs.

Technology in the Service of Pedagogy: Teaching with Chemistry Databases

“…The number of compound databases in chemistry is very large and it spans different topics ranging from biochemistry to material sciences. See, for example, the long list of databases related to food chemistry compiled by Minkiewicz et al . Here we provide several specific examples.…”

“…Note that PubChem is one of the sources of ChemSpider but not vice‐versa. The interface of PubChem is more complex than that of ChemSpider; for example, the properties for each compound are given in one very long page, forcing the user to scroll down in order to see all the details (as opposed to the categorial tabs of ChemSpider). Although this could be convenient for saving information per compound, it seems less suitable for quick browsing.…”

Databases and Associated Bioinformatic Tools in Studies of Food Allergens, Epitopes and Haptens – a Review

“…Bioinformatic tools, including databases, have recently been increasingly used in education, especially in the fi eld of biological and medical sciences [Atwood et al, 2015; Brazas & Ouelette, 2016; Minkiewicz et al, 2016]. The popularity of databases and computer programs in education in the agricultural sciences, including food science, is much lower than in the fi elds mentioned above, an example of which may be the statistics on the interests of participants of online bioinformatic courses [Ding et al, 2014].…”

Prediction of the allergic response of extracellular amylase producing bacteria through in-silico method

“…Bioinformatics tools, as well as databases, have recently been more and more employed in education, particularly within the area of medical and biological research. (Atwood et al, 2015;Brazas and Ouelette, 2016;Minkiewicz et al, 2016).…”