A potential nutraceutical from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-742 (ATCC 13146); production and properties

There is an emerging market for functional oligosaccharides for use in foods. Currently, technology for the production of oligosaccharides is limited to extraction from plant sources, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides or synthesis by transglycosylation reactions. Oligosaccharides also can be produced using a Leuconostoc fermentation and restricting the polymer size by the addition of maltose. Maltose limits the dextransucrase reaction, yielding high concentrations of a-glucooligosaccharides. Branched oligomers produced by this process were found to be readily catabolized by bifidobacteria and lactobacillus but were not readily utilized by either Salmonella sp., or E. coli, pointing toward their use in intestinal microflora modification. Branched a-glucooligosaccharides were non-competitive inhibitors of a-glucosidase (maltase), an enzyme required for starch or maltodextrin utilization