Developing an efficient bacterial production of the gellan hydrocolloid

口香糖产品国际公司（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，该公司与约克大学合作，确定并优化水胶体结冷胶的替代生产策略。结冷胶是由细菌鞘单胞菌产生的，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和稳定剂。不幸的是，目前的商业工艺生产的结冷胶要么功能低下（粘度谱差、凝胶强度、分子量、化学成分/纯度），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表征结冷胶合成的关键驱动因素来确定一种改进的结冷胶生产方法。在当前的应用程序中进行的研究将集中在(1)开发一个详细的标准操作程序，以有效地生产高质量的结冷胶；(2)设计和实施一种基于光散射的分析分析方法，以监测结冷胶的生产和产品质量。这项研究将进一步制定GPI向食品工业销售的结冷胶生产战略，从而大大拓宽当前市场和开发新市场。

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.