Engineering Bacillus Subtilis for the production of High Fructose Syrup: Opportunities and Prospects

Abstract

High fructose syrup is an excellent and safe sweetener that can replace sucrose and is widely used in beverages and food products, including soft drinks, ketchup, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate milk, candies, jams, condiments, canned and packaged foods, etc. Besides, after acid dehydration, it can be used as a renewable resource to synthesize bio-petrochemicals. The advantages of high fructose syrup include high sweetness, high solubility, low viscosity, enhanced flavor, good moisture retention, no side effects in acidic foods, and no crystal formation. Due to its potential application, little has been done to satisfy the current market. It can be produced by two main approaches, (i)Chemical method of synthesis accounted several challenges and these include low yield, unacceptable products, expensive, environmentally unfriendly. This review aimed to discuss the engineering B. subtilis 168 which a food-grade microbial cell factory to solve all the challenges from chemical production processes with an improved yield, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and quality products.GI which isomerizes a reversible reaction of D-glucose into D-fructose requires special conditions for the highlevel yield of HFS biosynthesis such acid pH environment and high temperature which are harsh for wild-type enzymes. Therefore, there is a need to engineer a GRAS B. subtilis 168 for sustainable industrial production. Codon optimization and plasmid engineering have been highlighted.