Author
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Cote, Gregory |
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2007 Publication Date: 9/24/2007 Citation: Cote, G.L. 2007. Flavorings and other value added products from sucrose. In: Rastall, R., editor. Novel Enzyme Technology for Food Applications. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing Ltd. p. 243-269. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Farmers in the United States produce approximately eight million tons of sugar from cane and beets every year. In a typical year, stocks remaining unsold represent nearly ten percent of this amount. Worldwide, farmers produce approximately 140 million tons, with an equivalent percentage remaining in stock at year end. Sugar prices typically hover around $0.10 to $0.12 per pound in the USA. Various types of subsidies and price support systems are used by many sugar-producing countries to keep sugar producers in business. In addition to significant production surpluses and low prices, sugar producers face increasing competition from artificial, high-intensity sweeteners and from corn sweeteners such as fructose or high-fructose corn syrup. It has been claimed that cane and beet sugar, or sucrose, represents the largest production of any pure, single organic compound in the world. This represents a huge potential supply of relatively inexpensive, pure, food-grade raw material. Thus, any process for converting sucrose into more valuable products will be beneficial to sugar farmers, food processors, consumers, and taxpayers alike. Companies and government agencies in several countries are sponsoring research into ways to convert sucrose to higher-value products. This chapter will describe the use of biotechnology to produce value-added products from sucrose. In particular, it will focus on the use of enzymes to convert sucrose into oligosaccharides or polysaccharides suitable for food use. |
