• GlycoProFit

    Cost-efficient synthesis of health-promoting glycobioses

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  • About GlycoProFit

    The GlycoProFit project aims to establish the Cost-efficient synthesis of health-promoting glycobioses” using classical table sugar (sucrose) as substrate and enzymes as green biocatalysts. After the synthesis of a variety of healthier alternatives, such as kojibiose (α-1,2-glucobiose, see Background Paper), the new disaccharides and analogues will be subjected to detailed analysis to determine their characteristics in food applications (incl. cariogenic effect, caloric value and prebiotic properties). The most promising candidates will then be produced at a larger scale to enable their taste and texture profiling.

     

    The GlycoProFit project is a collaborative research project where five different partners, academic research groups, combine their strengths and expertise in order to create and analysis new biocatalytic production routes for glycobioses with health-promoting properties. This project falls under the “Strategic Basic Research” (SBO) grants funded by FWO Flanders with grant number S003617N.

     

    The consortium is supported by an Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC), composed of various companies that cover the entire food and feed industry chain. Their feedback enables the consortium to focus on the most relevant targets from the beginning, thereby ensuring a strong position for valorization and market uptake.

     

    In the GlycoProFit project highly innovative research goes hand-in-hand with the creation of opportunities for further economic of societal applications, such as a new generation of products, processes or services, which is a key goal of the SBO funding.

  • Project output

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    Biocatalytic Synthesis of the Rare Sugar Kojibiose: Process Scale-Up and Application Testing.

    J Agric Food Chem, 2017

    doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b0225

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    Rational design of an improved transglucosylase for production of the rare sugar nigerose​

    Chem Commun, 2019

    doi: 10.1039/C9CC01587F

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    Rare mono- and disaccharides as healthy alternative for traditional sugars and sweeteners?​

    Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2020

    doi: 10.1080/10408398.2020.

    1743966

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    Oral Microbiota Display Profound Differential Metabolic Kinetics and Community Shifts upon Incubation with Sucrose, Trehalose, Kojibiose, and Xylitol

    Appl Environ Microbiol, 2020

    doi: 10.1128/AEM.01170-20

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    Synthesis, trehalase hydrolytic resistance and inhibition properties of 4- and 6-substituted trehalose derivatives​

    J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem, 2020

    doi: 10.1080/14756366.2020.1837125

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    Sucrose Phosphorylase and Related Enzymes in Glycoside Hydrolase Family 13: Discovery, Application and Engineering​

    Int J Mol Sci, 2020

    doi: 10.3390/ijms21072526

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    Oral and Gut Microbial Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes Landscape in Health and Disease​

    Front. Microbiol., 2021

    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.653448

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    Metabolism and Health Effects of Rare Sugars in a CACO-2/HepG2 Coculture Model​

    Nutrients, 2021

    doi: 10.3390/nu14030611

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    Sweet Biotechnology : Enzymatic Production and Digestibility Screening of Novel Kojibiose and Nigerose Analogues​

    J Agric Food Chem, 2022

    doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c07709

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    Glycosidic linkage of rare and new-to-nature disaccharides reshapes gut microbiota in vitro

    Food Chemistry, 2023 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135440

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    Rare Sugar Metabolism and Impact on Insulin Sensitivity along the Gut–Liver–Muscle Axis In Vitro

    Nutrients, 2023

    doi: 10.3390/nu15071593

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    Background paper

    Converting bulk sugars into prebiotics: semi-rational design of a transglucosylase with controlled selectivity

     

  • Video (dutch)

  • Consortium members

    Who we are

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    Unit for Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering

    Enzyme engineering and process optimisation for the production of new sugars

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    Food Chemistry and Human Nutrition

    Effect of the new sugars on human nutrition and health (calories, metabolism)

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    Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology

    Effect of the new sugars on oral and gastrointestinal microbiome (caries, prebiotic)

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    Laboratory of Food Technology

    Physicochemical and sensorial properties of the new sugars (formulation, taste)

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    Laboratory for Organic and Bioorganic synthesis

    Chemical derivation of the new sugars towards pharmaceutical applications