
Nonfattening Food Additive Made From Sugar
By Ben Hardin September 14, 1999Sugarbeet and sugarcane industries
may someday provide a less-expensive, domestic alternative to gum arabic. U.S.
industries now use thousands of tons of the imported gum, a thickener and
stabilizer thats added to citrus-based soft drinks and a variety of other
products. Agricultural Research Servicescientists are harnessing the power of a microbe to assemble sugar molecules
into an alternative that has some--and perhaps all--of gum arabics choice
qualities. As an emulsifier, gum arabic helps water and food oils mix and stay mixed.
Food processors use it to help icings stick to cake, prevent syrups from
crystallizing, and maintain a foamy head on a glass of beer--all without
changing flavor. Some gum arabic is used as a bulking agent or filler to
provide a desired texture in cosmetics and in industrial products like ink and
adhesives. So far, from sugar, scientists at the ARS
National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research, Peoria, Illinois, have made versions of a
nonfattening carbohydrate polymer, alternan, that consistently mimics gum
arabics bulking feature. Now, theyre trying to develop versions
that mimic gum arabics emulsifying action. ARS, the USDA's chief scientific agency,
has patented several alternan-related inventions in the past two years. Using
an enzyme produced by the bacterium, Leuconostocmesenteroides,
the scientists recently developed ways to produce 100-liter batches for testing
as bulking agents in a variety of applications. U.S. companies now buy gum arabic at volatile prices--sometimes higher than
$5 per pound. Sudan produces more of the gum than any other country. The cost of making alternan is expected to be similar to that of dextran,
which currently wholesales for about $3 per pound. A coproduct would be high
fructose syrup. An article about the research appears in the September issue of Agricultural Research magazine
and online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/sep99/sugar0999.htm Scientific contact: Gregory L. Cote and Timothy D. Leathers, ARS
National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL; phone (309)
681-6591, fax (309) 681-6693, [email protected] and
[email protected].
U.S. Department of Agriculture | |