Natural protein-based sweeteners: making it profitable

Basic data for this project

Description

Recently, sweet-tasting proteins gained considerable attention, particularly their application as sugar substituents. In comparison to conventional sugars such as sucrose, the advantage of sweet-tasting proteins is their low caloric value and the fact that they are neither cariogenic, nor diabetogenic. Hence, sweet-tasting proteins can be used as sweeteners in foodstuffs and represent a healthier alternative to conventional sugars. As an example, the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin from Thaumatococcus daniellii is an approved food additive (E 957) in the EU since 1996. However, production of sweet-tasting proteins is more laborious, when compared to synthesis of small-molecule sweeteners such as saccharin. The proteins are either extracted from plant material or produced as recombinant proteins by means of biotechnology. The limiting factors for extraction are obtaining sufficient amounts of plant material and rather low product yields. Production of recombinant proteins by means of biotechnology offers an alternative to classic extraction, however it relies on protein purification steps to yield a product with acceptable purity and separation from the genetically modified organism. This project aims to establish a novel method for the production of sweet-tasting proteins with the aim to circumvent protein purification steps and provide a method that is more cost-efficient when compared to established methods.