Developing an efficient bacterial production of the gellan hydrocolloid

Gum Products International（GPI）是生产和销售糖基稳定剂和增稠剂（称为水胶体）的市场领导者，已与约克大学合作，确定并优化水胶体结冷胶的替代生产策略。结冷胶是由鞘氨醇单胞菌elodea细菌产生的，是一种天然的，FDA批准的，素食/清真/犹太食品工业中使用的增稠剂和稳定剂。遗憾的是，目前的商业方法生产的结冷胶要么功能性低（粘度曲线、凝胶强度、分子量、化学组成/纯度差），要么成本非常高。GPI和约克大学之间的研究伙伴关系旨在通过对结冷胶合成关键驱动因素的表征来确定结冷胶生产的改进方法。在当前申请中进行的研究将集中在（1）开发用于高效生产高质量结冷胶的详细标准操作程序和（2）设计和实施基于分析光散射的测定以监测结冷胶生产和产品质量。这项研究将进一步制定结冷胶生产战略，由GPI向食品工业营销，从而大大拓宽现有市场并开拓新市场。

Gum Products International (GPI), a market leader in the production and distribution of sugar-based stabilizers and thickeners (known as hydrocolloids), has partnered with York University to identify and optimize alternative production strategies of the hydrocolloid gellan gum. Gellan is produced by the bacteria Sphingomonas elodea and is a natural, FDA approved, vegan/halal/kosher thickening and stabilizing agent used in the food industry. Current commercial processes unfortunately produce gellan gums that are either low in functionality (poor viscosity profiles, gel strength, molecular weight, chemical composition/purity) or are very high in cost. The research partnership between GPI and York University seeks to determine an improved method for gellan production through a characterization of the key drivers of gellan synthesis. Research undertaken in the current application will focus on (1) development on a detailed standard operating procedure for efficient production of high quality gellan and (2) design and implementation of an analytical light scattering-based assay to monitor gellan production and product quality. This research will further develop a gellan production strategy for marketing by GPI to the food industry, resulting in a significant broadening of current markets and exploitation of new markets.