CONTRIBUTION OF NON-ENZYMATIC TRANSGLYCOSYLATION REACTIONS TO THE HONEY OLIGOSACCHARIDES ORIGIN AND DIVERSITY

摘要

Honey is essentially a very concentrated aqueous solution of fructose and glucose, composed also by a complex mixture of other carbohydrates [1]. Some of the carbohydrates present in honey are attributed to the a-glucosyl transferase activity of invertase, able to transfer a-glucosyl residues to other carbohydrate moieties. Similarly to the invertase transglucosylation activity that explains the presence of α-glucose linked sugars [2,3], the presence of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) may be attributed to the transfructosylation activity of enzymes from microorganisms found in honey [4]. Nonetheless, there is still no explanation for the origin of the oligosaccharides present in honey holding different combinations of glycosidic linkages and configurations.