Low-calorie sugar? That’s a sweet idea!

Australia’s sugar industry is the second largest exporter, with revenues of up to $2 billion annually. With the sugar market growing at a steady rate of 2% per year, Australia faces a challenge to maintain its competitiveness against international producers such as Brazil and India.

International agribusiness company MSF Sugar is collaborating with FaBA on the development of ‘rare sugars’, which will not only meet a gap in the market but also increase the value of Australian sugar.

Rare sugars are a promising alternative to traditional sugars. They provide a sweetness with few calories and minimal impact on blood sugar levels while maintaining taste and texture in F&B products.

University of Queensland (UQ) researcher Dr Axayacatl Gonzalez said the project aims to build a microbial cell factory to efficiently produce the sugar and develop a scalable bioprocess for large-scale production.

“We will transform sugar into a new product that has the same properties as natural sugar, but with a lower calorie count,” Dr Gonzalez said.

He added that FaBA had the capabilities and the infrastructure to work with MSF Sugar across the life of the project from precision fermentation in UQ’s custom-made bioreactors through to testing in the QUT Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant.

“We can design, build, test and learn, which is vital to generating any new ingredient for the market.”

MSF Sugar’s General Manager Businesses Development, Jia Poontanasombat, said the research had the potential to address societal problems associated with excess sugar consumption while also positioning the company at the forefront of sugar industry R&D.

“Synthetic biology has the potential to turn sugar into a highly technical, high-value commodity that provides economic benefit and meets health needs both in Australia and abroad,” said Jia Poontanasombat.

We think that sounds like a sweet idea!