Multidisciplinary approaches for enhancing sweet protein functionality and novel applications in fermented foods

Research output: Book/ReportPh.D. thesis

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Abstract

Diet is the primary environmental factor influencing human health and disease. Modern Western diets have significantly diverged from traditional food norms, leading to numerous adverse health effects. Excessive consumption of high-calorie foods, particularly those rich in added sugars, combined with a lack of fermented foods, contributes to negative health outcomes. This study explores various strategies to address these issues. One approach focuses on alternative sweeteners, such as sweet proteins, which offer promising solutions. Enhancing the thermostability of sweet proteins like brazzein and thaumatin expands their potential applications, revolutionizing sweetener blends and their integration into various products, including yogurt. Yogurt, recognized as a beneficial source of fermented foods, typically relies on a limited range of microbes. However, traditional homemade fermented foods boast a richer microbial diversity, prompting an investigation into the microbial origins of these practices.

To broaden the applications of sweet proteins, this thesis provides sweet proteins brazzein and thaumatin with improved thermostability. Further analysis in a heterologous host, gives valuable information on fitness cost that can be used to select the best-performing sweet protein for industrial production in cell factories, which can improve the yields obtained by plant extraction. To make the production of sweet proteins more economically feasible and sustainable, in-situ production in yogurt is used as a proof of concept. By leveraging Lactococcus lactis in co-culture with yogurt strains, this approach highlights the potential for integrating sweet protein production directly within fermented food processes. Further exploration into the effects of other compounds in thaumatin’s sweetness uncovers an inhibitory effect by lactose. Additionally, the binding of kokumi peptide to the sweet receptor sweetness opens a new path for sweetness enhancement by kokumi peptides. This information can be valuable when selecting the application of sweet proteins and blending them with other sweeteners. Beyond the incorporation of sweet proteins in yogurt, traditional yogurt fermentation practices are revisited, emphasizing the diverse microbial ecosystems essential for human health. By reintroducing a broader spectrum of microbes into fermentation practices, there is a potential for enhancing health utcomes through exposure to a wider array of microbial metabolites.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherTechnical University of Denmark
Number of pages174
Publication statusPublished - 2024

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