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Recent advances on physiological functions and biotechnological production of epilactose

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Abstract

Epilactose (4-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-mannose), an epimer of lactose, is a rare disaccharide existing extremely small quantities in heat-treated milk, in which epilactose is produced by non-enzymatic catalysis from lactose. This disaccharide is a kind of non-digestible carbohydrate, has a good prebiotic effect, and promotes intestinal mineral absorption. This article presents a review of recent studies on epilactose formation in food system, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and its physiological functions. In addition, the biochemical properties and kinetic parameters of the epilactose-producing enzyme, cellobiose 2-epimerase, are compared, and the biotechnological production of epilactose from lactose is reviewed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NSFC Project (No. 21276001 and 31171705), the 973 project (No. 2012CB720802) the 863 Project (No. 2011AA100904), and the Support Project of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2011622, BE2011766, BE2010678 and BE2010626).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China

    Wanmeng Mu, Qiuxi Li, Chen Fan, Chen Zhou & Bo Jiang

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  1. Wanmeng Mu
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Correspondence to Wanmeng Mu.

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Mu, W., Li, Q., Fan, C. et al. Recent advances on physiological functions and biotechnological production of epilactose. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97, 1821–1827 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-4687-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-4687-2

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