Use of Orthogonal Matrix Method for the Production of Levansucrase and Biosynthesis of Levan: A Potential Polymer for Novel Drug Delivery Systems

摘要

Polysaccharides are ubiquitous and undoubtedly the most abundant biopolymers on earth. Over the past 25 years, the microbial exopolysaccharides has grown in industrial importance as alternatives to other synthetic and natural water-soluble polymers in drug delivery. Microbial polysaccharides can be synthesized in two ways viz., 1) direct production of polysaccharides in fermentation broth and 2) biotransformation of substrate (monosaccharide or disaccharides) into polysaccharide using isolated biocatalysts I.e., enzyme. The latter process, used in the present study, allows several benefits such as controlled synthesis, reusability of enzyme, higher yield, easy separation, economical process, less effluent problems and many others. Biotransformation of sucrose solution into levan using the isolated enzyme was studied. Levan was purified using gel permeation chromatography. More than 10 times levan was produced by enzymatic method as compared to the conventional fermentation method.