Food experts have been looking for ways to curb the desire for sweets without the health hazards associated with sugar for a long time now. The objective has not changed since the invention of early artificial sweeteners to newer plant-based alternatives. You want sweetness without too many calories, dental damage, or increased risk of diabetes and obesity.
Although artificial sweeteners were meant to make sugary meals and drinks healthier, some of the most widely used zero-calorie alternatives are now causing new worries.
Now, scientists have discovered a method to convert glucose into tagatose, a sugar that has roughly 60% fewer calories than table sugar and does not raise insulin.
Tufts University scientists claims that the technique could increase food options and reduce expenses by employing modified microbes.
A team led by Nik Nair, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, proposes a novel biological process to produce tagatose, a rare sugar that tastes similar to table sugar but has fewer health risks, in a paper published in Cell Reports Physical Science.
The fact that a big portion of tagatose seems to be fermented in the large intestine is one of the main reasons it doesn’t have the same impact. It is only partially absorbed into the bloodstream, through the small intestine.
This makes it especially intriguing since, unlike sucrose or high-intensity artificial sweeteners, it doesn’t raise insulin levels, which could make it a desirable choice for those with diabetes or blood glucose problems.
So why didn’t we use tagatose till now ?
Naturally, tagatose is found in very small amounts in some foods. After lactose is broken down, remnants can be found in fruits like apples and oranges as well as dairy products.
So, tagatose is rarely derived from food since it typically makes up less than 0.2% of natural sugars. Rather, it needs to be produced, which has historically been an expensive and ineffective procedure.
The breakthrough
“We developed a way to produce tagatose by engineering the bacteria Escherichia coli to work as tiny factories, loaded with the right enzymes to process abundant amounts of glucose into tagatose.” – researchers said.
In particular, scientists introduced galactose-1-phosphate-selective phosphatase (Gal1P), a recently identified enzyme from slime mold, into these bacteria. This enzyme transforms glucose into galactose, which is subsequently transformed into tagatose by another enzyme.
Nair and colleagues have demonstrated that manufacturing yields for tagatose can reach up to 95 percent using this unique sequence, which is significantly better than the current range of 40 to 77 percent.
Regulators and businesses need safety information, consistent purity, and unambiguous labeling before a new sweetener is marketed.
D-tagatose is listed in the FDA notice for usage in baked goods, beverages, cereals, gum, and candies.
The term “generally recognized as safe,” which refers to the consensus among experts that a substance is safe when used as intended, does not encompass all potential diets.
A different rule permits the argument that because oral bacteria digest D-tagatose slowly, it does not cause dental caries.
The identification of the enzyme and the reversal of the pathway demonstrate how living cells can convert glucose into tagatose while retaining the cooking properties of sugar.
Related:
What happens to your body when you start following a low-sugar diet?
How much sugar a day should you consume ?
Easy Ways To Reduce Sugar Intake
