engleski

Beta-glucan production from microbial biomass

Baker^, s yeast and medicinal mushrooms have been used for a long time in traditional medicine for stimulation of immune system. Exstensive scientific research have attributed this biological effect to beta-1, 3-D-glucans, the complex fiber-type polysaccharides that can be found in a variety of fungal cells, protozoans and plants. Beta-glucans from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Euglena gracilis have been proven for ability to control a number of metabolic disorders and diseases, such as various types of cancer, disorders of immune systems, osteoporosis, non-insulin dependent diabetes, cardiovascular and infective diseases etc. Therfore, the interest for large scale production and downstream processing of these two single-cell micro-organisms is growing steadily. In this work the research on cultivation of protozoan Euglena gracilis on different complex media will be presented. The influence of media composition and other process parameters with reference to yields of biomass and paramylon (Euglena derived beta-glucan) have been studied. Recently we started the research on isolation procedure for harvesting soluble beta-glucans from bakers yeasts and spent brewer^, s yeast. Enzimatic, chemical and physical methodes have been tested in order to obtain optimal structure of yeast beta-glucan for required biological activity that approves its use as functional food

beta-glucan; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Euglena gracilis

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