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The Recent Development of a Sweet-Tasting Brazzein and its Potential Industrial Applications

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Sweeteners

Part of the book series: Reference Series in Phytochemistry ((RSP))

Abstract

Brazzein is a small heat- and pH-stable sweet-tasting protein isolated from the West African plant, Pentadiplandra brazzeana. Brazzein combines a highly sweet potency, a long history of human consumption, and a remarkable stability, giving it great potential as a natural sweetener. Due to the difficulties of obtaining brazzein from its natural source, several efforts have been made to express brazzein using various heterologous expression systems. This chapter describes the biochemical, structural, sensory, and physiological properties of brazzein. We will summarize the current knowledge of the structure-activity relationship of brazzein. The biotechnological production of brazzein using various expression systems will also be reviewed. Furthermore, the emerging application of brazzein in the food industry to replace traditional sugars by acting as a natural, good, low-calorie sweetener will be discussed.

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Abbreviations

CRD:

Cysteine-rich domain

GPCR:

G-protein-coupled receptor

GST:

Glutathione-S-transferase

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

NSB-H:

Non-Specific Binding-Hypothesis

NTD:

N-terminal domain

pyrE:

Pyroglutamic acid

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel Electrophoresis

SUMO:

Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier

TMD:

Transmembrane domain

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation, INRA UMR1324, CNRS UMR6265, Université de Bourgogne – Franche-Comté, F-21000, Dijon, France

    Fabrice Neiers & Loïc Briand

  2. BRAIN AG, Darmstaedter Str. 34-36, 64673, Zwingenberg, Germany

    Christian Naumer & Michael Krohn

Authors
  1. Fabrice Neiers
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  2. Christian Naumer
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  3. Michael Krohn
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  4. Loïc Briand
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Fabrice Neiers , Christian Naumer , Michael Krohn or Loïc Briand .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ins. des Sciences de la Vigne et du, Université de Bordeaux, Villenave d'Ornon, Gironde, France

    Jean-Michel Merillon

  2. Botany Department, M.L.Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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Neiers, F., Naumer, C., Krohn, M., Briand, L. (2016). The Recent Development of a Sweet-Tasting Brazzein and its Potential Industrial Applications. In: Merillon, JM., Ramawat, K. (eds) Sweeteners. Reference Series in Phytochemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26478-3_2-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26478-3_2-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26478-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26478-3

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