Microbial production of fructosyltransferases for synthesis of pre-biotics.

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are prebiotic substances found in several vegetable or natural foods. The main commercial production of FOS comes from enzymatic transformation of sucrose by the microbial enzyme fructosyltransferase. The development of more efficient enzymes, with high activity and stability, is required and this has attracted the interest of biotechnologists and microbiologists with production by several microorganisms being studied. This article reviews and discusses FOS chemical structure, enzyme characteristics, the nomenclature, producer microorganisms and enzyme production both in solid state fermentation and submerged cultivation.