Expression of the sweet protein brazzein in maize for production of a new commercial sweetener. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The availability of foods low in sugar content yet high in flavour is critically important to millions of individuals conscious of carbohydrate intake for diabetic or dietetic purposes. Brazzein is a sweet protein occurring naturally in a tropical plant that is impractical to produce economically on a large scale, thus limiting its availability for food products. We report here the use of a maize expression system for the production of this naturally sweet protein. High expression of brazzein was obtained, with accumulation of up to 4% total soluble protein in maize seed. Purified corn brazzein possessed a sweetness intensity of up to 1200 times that of sucrose on a per weight basis. In addition, application tests demonstrated that brazzein-containing maize germ flour could be used directly in food applications, providing product sweetness. These results demonstrate that high-intensity sweet protein engineered into food products can give sweetener attributes useful in the food industry.

published proceedings

  • Plant Biotechnol J

altmetric score

  • 9

author list (cited authors)

  • Lamphear, B. J., Barker, D. K., Brooks, C. A., Delaney, D. E., Lane, J. R., Beifuss, K., ... Howard, J. A.

citation count

  • 62

complete list of authors

  • Lamphear, Barry J||Barker, Donna K||Brooks, Christopher A||Delaney, Donna E||Lane, Jeffrey R||Beifuss, Katherine||Love, Robert||Thompson, Kevin||Mayor, Jocelyne||Clough, Rich||Harkey, Robin||Poage, Miranda||Drees, Carol||Horn, Michael E||Streatfield, Stephen J||Nikolov, Zivko||Woodard, Susan L||Hood, Elizabeth E||Jilka, Joseph M||Howard, John A

publication date

  • January 2005

publisher