Structures and properties of gellan polymers produced by Sphingomonas paucimobilis ATCC 31461 from lactase compared with those produced from glucose and from cheese whey
Am. Fialho et al., Structures and properties of gellan polymers produced by Sphingomonas paucimobilis ATCC 31461 from lactase compared with those produced from glucose and from cheese whey, APPL ENVIR, 65(6), 1999, pp. 2485-2491
The dairy industry produces large quantities of whey as a by-product of che
ese production and is increasingly looking for new ways to utilize this was
te product. Gellan gum is reliably produced by Sphingomonas paucimobilis in
growth media containing lactose, a significant component of cheese,whey, a
s a carbon source. We studied and compared polysaccharide biosynthesis by S
. paucimobilis ATCC 31461 in media containing glucose, lactose (5 to 30 g/l
iter), and sweet cheese whey. We found that altering the growth medium can
markedly affect the polysaccharide yield, acyl substitution level, polymer
rheological properties, and susceptibility to degradation. Depression of ge
llan production from lactose compared with gellan production from glucose (
approximately 30%) did not appear to occur at the level of synthesis of sug
ar nucleotides, which are the donors of monomers used for biosynthesis of t
he repetitive tetrasaccharide unit of gellan. The lactose-derived biopolyme
r had the highest total acyl content; the glucose- and whey-derived gellans
had similar total acyl contents but differed markedly in their acetate and
glycerate levels. Rheological studies revealed how the functionality of a
gellan polysaccharide is affected by changes in the acyl substitution.