zuChem was recently issued two patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for production and research of polyols. They were issued Patents No. 8,367,346 and 8,338,147, entitled “Methods for Production of Xylitol in Microorganisms” and “Process for Producing D-Mannitol” respectively. These are for the production of sweeteners from renewable, affordable and sustainable feedstocks.
This company is a provider of specialty carbohydrates for both food production and research settings, and with this patent will deal with polyols, or sugar alcohols. These sugars have traditionally been made from hydrogenation, but zuChem and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research and the Biotechnological Research and Development Corporation tried to make these alcohols via a more natural fermentative approach. This will help make sweeteners that are more sustainable and are more suited to applications in food items for which table sucrose(table sugar) or corn syrup would not be the best choice.
The polyols that zuChem is working with, xylitol and mannitol, have many benefits that make them more suited for certain applications than table sugar. Xylitol has the sweetness of table sugar, but with one-third of the calories. It also produces a cooling sensation in the mouth which makes it ideal for use in beverages and gums, helps clean teeth and is metabolized independently of insulin. That last part makes it an ideal sweetener for foods geared toward Type 1 or 2 diabetics. It occurs naturally in small amounts in some fruits and vegetables, and zuChem’s fermentative process is meant to isolate it and make it into an alcohol. Mannitol has 50 percent of the sweetness of table sugar, but has a cooling effect that is often used to cover up bitter tastes. This makes it good to use in candies, cough drops and icings. The way that zuChem makes these is through a combination and fermentation of glucose and fructose, which produces the sugar mannose and then the alcohol mannitol.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
