Brazzein

• UniProt: P56552

Brazzein is in the fruits of the West African liana plant Penta brazzeana occurring protein. It has compared to sugar a 500 - to 2,000 times sweeter with low calorie content and temperature resistance. This makes it attractive as a sugar substitute in industrial food production.

Discovery

In behavioral studies in monkeys in Central Africa Gabon in 1984 found the French anthropologist Marcel Hladik and Anette that the animals prefer feeding on the red fruit of the vine plant Penta brazzeana. The cause of this behavior, they made the tremendous sweetness of the fruit. 1994 Brazzein was first isolated at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Structure

Brazzein is a small monomeric protein consisting of 54 amino acids, having a pyroglutamate at the N- terminus and four intramolecular disulfide bridges, with a molecular mass of 6473 Da. Brazzein is so far the smallest and one of the sweetest proteinergen among sweeteners. The three-dimensional protein structure shows an α -helix and three anti- parallel β -sheets. The tertiary structure has no similarity to the known structures of monellin and thaumatin.

Brazzein from natural sources is a mixture of pGlu - brazzein (80%) - and pGlu- brazzein (20% ), the des- pGlu- Brazzein is twice as sweet as the pGlu- Brazzein.

Use as an industrial sweetener

Brazzein is due to its long lasting and strong sweetening power as well as good tolerance for diabetics as a sugar substitute for industrial mass production of food. It is readily soluble at 50 mg / ml in water, and both over a wide pH range and heat-resistant, which is important for industrial processing, eg is in baked goods. In addition, its taste is similar to sugar than most other sweeteners. The U.S. company Nectar Worldwide and Prodigene work to create synthetic Brazzein with the help of genetically modified maize cheaply in large quantities. Currently can be about one to two kilograms per tonne of maize Brazzein win. It is expected that the market will take admission by the health authorities several years to complete. In case of a successful launch of Brazzein significant consequences for the traditional sugar industry are expected. With sugar and other sweeteners euro turnover about 70 billion will be made ​​worldwide each year.

Patenting

Although the fruits of Penta brazzeana have long been known in Central Africa, Brazzein is claimed by the University of Wisconsin as their own invention; Relationships with the natural deposits in Gabon rejects the university. The University holds three patents on compounds isolated from Penta brazzeana, or on the industrial production of Brazzein (U.S. 5,326,580, U.S. 5,346,998, U.S. 5,527,555 ). Patenting Brazzein is therefore classified by GRAIN and Greenpeace as biopiracy.