PRODUCTION OF INVERTASE ENZYMES BY Fusarium sp LBBIO - BL03 AND Rhizopus sp LBBIO-BL-01 AIMING FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF FRUITOOLIGOSACHARIDES

• Grant number: 24/09033-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Biochemistry of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Valéria Marta Gomes de Lima
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Dalmazzo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Invert sugar and fructooligosaccharides are raw materials of interest in the food industry and have in common the fact that they are obtained with enzymes popularly known as invertases. Invertases (D-fructofuranosidefructohydrolass, EC.3.2.1.26) catalyze the cleavage of sucrose (d-glucopyranosyl--d-fructofuranoside) into two monosaccharides, namely glucose and fructose. Furthermore, these enzymes also have transferase activity, especially at a high concentration of sucrose, being classified as fructosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.9), catalyzing the transfer of ±²-D-O-fructofuranoside to an acceptor substrate. The genera Rhizopus and Fusarium have been widely studied for the production of hydrolases, have GRAS biosafety status, can be cultivated in agro-industrial waste, but have not yet been studied in relation to the production of invertases. The objective of this project is the production of invertase enzymes by Fusarium sp LBBIO-BL03 and Rhizopus sp LBBIO-BL01 in sugarcane juice molasses, aiming to characterize the invertase activity and detect transfructosylation activity. Each microorganism will be cultivated in shaken flasks (180 rpm, 30°C, up to 96h) using Vogel's salts and 50 g/L sucrose or sugarcane juice molasses as culture medium. Measurements will be made of biomass (gravimetry), reducing sugar (DNS method), total sugar (phenol sulfuric method), glucose (glucose oxidase method), proteins (Bradford method), pH and invertase and transfructosylation activity. The biochemical characteristics of the enzymes obtained will be evaluated, determining the influence of pH, temperature and substrate concentration on enzymatic activity.