Efficient enzymatic synthesis of novel and bioactive oligosaccharides with potential use in food formulations

Abstract

The production of new bioactive oligosaccharides is currently attracting high interest for their potential use as functional components in the food, pharmaceutical, feed, and cosmetic industries. The development of simple and convenient methods for the efficient synthesis of potentially bioactive oligosaccharides offers opportunities to facilitate their use as functional ingredients. In general, enzymatic processes have a great potential in the food carbohydrate field, as they normally exhibit high substrate specificity, regio- and stereospecificity. Findings based on the enzymatic synthesis, using microbial glycosidases (EC 3.2.1) and non-Leloir glycosyltransferases (EC 2.4.1), and on the comprehensive structural characterization of novel and potentially bioactive dietary oligosaccharides will be presented. Among these oligosaccharides, results on the optimized production of lactulose-derived galactooligosaccharides, 2-a-glucosyllactose, lactulosucrose, kojibioseor maltosyl-fructosides will be discussed. Likewise, data derived fromin vitroandin vivobioactivity studies mainly focused on the assessment of the potential beneficial effects of lactulose-derived galactooligosaccharides on the gastrointestinal tract will also be described.