Twenty
years ago Ann Wigmore spoke to Roger Orton personally and said that the food
temperature had to go above 120 degrees
for a period time before the enzymes were destroyed. Again in our
discussions with Viktoras [Kulvinskas, cofounder with Ann Wigmore of the
Hippocrates Health Institute] he said the same thing.
Ann tested different
dehydrators and found that Excalibur was the best for living foods. She
found that the best technique for saving enzymes was to set Excalibur on a
higher food temperature setting in the beginning and then turn it down after
a few hours. However because most people may not know when to turn it
down, and by leaving it on the higher setting may kill the enzymes she
said to set your Excalibur on 105 degree setting throughout the entire
cycle. That way the food temp will never go above 120 even after it is
dry. We believe this is why many have come to believe that 105 degrees
air temperature is the temperature at which the enzymes are destroyed, which
is entirely inaccurate. [Final italics added.]
We
have also heard many people quote Dr. Edward Howell where
he says in his book “Enzyme Nutrition” that prolonged temperatures over
118 F will destroy enzymes. We also read in his book where he says that the
enzyme amylase can still convert starch to sugar at air temperatures up to
160 F but will wear out after a half an hour. We have also read where he
says that the optimum temperatures for enzymes are 45 F to 140 F.
Just
recently we spoke with Dr. John Whitaker who is a world recognized
enzymologist, and former dean of the Department
of Nutrition and Food Science at U.C. Davis. He said that every enzyme is
different and some are more stable at higher temperatures than others but
that most
enzymes will not become completely inactive until food temperatures exceed
140 to 158 F in a wet state. [Italics
added.]
