Manufacturing of new rare sugar with favored food application properties
Enzymatic process for producing a novel aldose-based rare sugar from corn starch with reduced Maillard reaction and zero-calorie benefits. Targets food and beverage applications where conventional rare sugars like D-allulose face browning and thermal instability limitations.
Overview
This research develops a novel rare sugar ingredient manufactured via enzymatic conversion of corn starch. Unlike D-allulose, a ketose-based rare sugar that causes severe Maillard browning and thermal degradation in food applications, the proposed ingredient is based on an aldose sugar structure that significantly reduces these unwanted reactions while retaining the zero-calorie advantage of non-metabolizable monosaccharides. The technology aims to expand the practical use of rare sugars across diverse food and beverage categories by overcoming key formulation barriers.
Technical specifications
- Raw material: Corn starch, a widely available and cost-effective feedstock
- Production method: Enzymatic bioconversion using thermostable enzymes discovered and secured at the laboratory level
- Reactor system: Immobilized bioreactor tested and confirmed as a feasible route for bioconversion
- Sugar type: Aldose-based monosaccharide, structurally distinct from ketose sugars such as D-allulose
- Key advantage: Lower Maillard reaction rate compared to D-allulose, enabling broader food application potential
- Current focus: Optimization of purification conditions to enable quantitative production of test ingredient samples
Technology readiness level
The technology is currently at an early-to-mid stage of development. Laboratory-level enzyme resources have been secured, and the immobilized bioreactor has been tested to confirm the feasibility of the bioconversion process. Purification conditions are being refined to enable prototype ingredient production. Over a planned two-year period, the research team intends to optimize enzyme technology for mass production, manufacture prototypes, and evaluate food chemical properties, taste profiles, and metabolic characteristics using in vitro methods. Patent applications are planned to secure intellectual property rights. The technology is not yet commercially deployed and requires further scale-up and application validation.
About Yonsei University
Yonsei University is a comprehensive private research university based in Seoul with an additional international campus in Songdo, combining a broad academic enterprise with a major clinical footprint. For industry, co-located academic and clinical facilities enable problem-driven collaboration from early discovery through validation, and shared core labs and prototyping spaces streamline testing. The Songdo campus sits within the Incheon Free Economic Zone’s biomanufacturing hub, giving partners proximity to large‑scale production and a dense supplier network. Research is supported by competitive national funding through the National Research Foundation of Korea and relevant ministries, and a dedicated technology transfer office manages IP, licensing, and startup formation.
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