Fructose has been used as sweetener by patients with diabetes. This sugar is usually produced from starch by a high-cost enzymatic process, which envolves the utilization of alpha-amylase, amyloglucosidase and glucose isomerase. Fructose can be alternatively produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin, a polymer of fructose stored as reserve in a number of Asteraceae species. Using only one enzymatic step, inulin can be converted into syrups containing up to 95% fructose. In the present work, fructose syrup was produced from inulin of Vernonia herbacea by hydrolysis with extracellular inulinases from Penicillium janczewskii and evaluated with respect to the effect on plasma glucose level in diabetic rats. Reduction of ca. 46% (p<1% Tukey test) of glucose levels in the plasma and no mortality were observed when rats were treated with hydrolysate of inulin. The high amounts of inulin stored by V. herbacea, the high activity of inulinase from P. janczewskii and the absence of mortality in these assays indicate that fructose produced in this way can be a suitable alternative for the commercial production of fructose syrup.
filamentous fungus; inulin; enzyme; microorganism; hydrolases; anti-hyperglycemic
