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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:00 am
Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biological Engineering, in collaboration with Kraft Heinz, have developed a method that uses an enzyme naturally found in plants that converts sugar into fiber and encases it in a special edible shell.
The fiber coating prevents the enzyme from being active in the food while it is on the shelf. In the gut, the coating breaks down and releases the enzyme to interact with the sugar in the food. The enzyme, a type of inulosucrase, breaks down the sugar into its simpler components—glucose and fructose—and binds the fructose together to form inulin, a soluble fiber that is not digestible by the body but is beneficial to the gut microbiome.
The enzyme has little interaction with glucose, and it can mostly be absorbed by the body. But according to Samuel Inverso, Wyss’ director of business development, the appeal of the shell is that the enzyme that converts glucose into fiber could potentially be encapsulated as well.
Wyss is currently licensing the technology to a startup that sweden number data will conduct further testing and registration. The plan is for US manufacturers to be able to use it in their products as early as 2026.
Enzymes are also being explored by British startup Zya (formerly known as Inulox). The company has a patented product called Convero, an improved version of another natural inulosucrase. The Zya team found that this substance is particularly good at converting sugar into fiber in the intestine (it is produced by a microorganism with an altered genome). It is stored in a dried form, remaining inactive, so a shell is not needed.
Simulations show that the technology can convert about 30% of the sugar into fiber, says Josh Sauer, co-founder and CEO of Zya. Again, the enzyme converts fructose into inulin. Initial results from a preliminary test of the natural enzyme in pigs look promising. The expanded version plans to conduct additional studies in both pigs and humans.
Very little enzyme is needed to have the effect, which would make it easy to add to existing foods without major recipe adjustments. Sauer notes that this would add cost, but not much.
The fiber coating prevents the enzyme from being active in the food while it is on the shelf. In the gut, the coating breaks down and releases the enzyme to interact with the sugar in the food. The enzyme, a type of inulosucrase, breaks down the sugar into its simpler components—glucose and fructose—and binds the fructose together to form inulin, a soluble fiber that is not digestible by the body but is beneficial to the gut microbiome.
The enzyme has little interaction with glucose, and it can mostly be absorbed by the body. But according to Samuel Inverso, Wyss’ director of business development, the appeal of the shell is that the enzyme that converts glucose into fiber could potentially be encapsulated as well.
Wyss is currently licensing the technology to a startup that sweden number data will conduct further testing and registration. The plan is for US manufacturers to be able to use it in their products as early as 2026.
Enzymes are also being explored by British startup Zya (formerly known as Inulox). The company has a patented product called Convero, an improved version of another natural inulosucrase. The Zya team found that this substance is particularly good at converting sugar into fiber in the intestine (it is produced by a microorganism with an altered genome). It is stored in a dried form, remaining inactive, so a shell is not needed.
Simulations show that the technology can convert about 30% of the sugar into fiber, says Josh Sauer, co-founder and CEO of Zya. Again, the enzyme converts fructose into inulin. Initial results from a preliminary test of the natural enzyme in pigs look promising. The expanded version plans to conduct additional studies in both pigs and humans.
Very little enzyme is needed to have the effect, which would make it easy to add to existing foods without major recipe adjustments. Sauer notes that this would add cost, but not much.