As per patent office journal dated 03/12/2021, patent number 366820 has been granted to CENTER OF INNOVATIVE AND APPLIED BIOPROCESSING that is titled A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PREBIOTIC OLIGOSACCHARIDES AND NEARLY ZERO CALORIE FUNCTIONAL SUGAR FROM CANE MOLASSES, AND USES OF THE SAME.
The primary independent claim of this patent states a process for the production of non-digestible prebiotic glucooligosaccharides and Dallulose (or D-psicose) from the agro-industrial residue or by-product, cane molasses, treated with Leuconostoc sp. cells producing dextransucrase enzyme or a protein preparation therefrom, in the presence of maltose as an acceptor molecule, followed by the treatment with a protein preparation or cells having D-psicose 3 epimerase catalytic activity.
During the patent prosecution, the patent examiner objected to this patent under section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act. The present invention discloses a significant enhancement in the known efficacy of the cane industry waste or by-product, cane molasses, by producing high-value biomolecules of reduced calorie, prebiotic and other functional properties of health benefits. The cane industry waste or by-product, cane molasses, does not have any known properties of prebiotic oligosaccharides, and D-allulose (or D-psicose). The biotransformation of the known substance i.e. cane molasses (which is produced in abundant quantities as by-product or residue in the cane industry), described in the invention, made a great difference in their efficacy. Any such process for making the use of the low-cost and abundant agro-industrial by-product or residue, cane molasses, for production of prebiotic oligosaccharides and functional sugar D-allulose (or Dpsicose) is not known in any of the previous literature. Therefore, the present invention does not fall under section 3(d) of the Patents Act.
This patent falls under the category of Biotechnology. Overall, this patent covers a process involving the agro-industrial by-products of the sugar cane industry raw molasses, acceptor molecules extracted from starch industry residue, and the catalytic proteins with dextransucrase and D-psicose 3-epimerase activities as the key ingredients to produce high value non-digestible oligosaccharides and functional monosaccharide sugar- D-psicose. In particular, the invention relates to biotransformation of cane molasses, in the presence of maltose as acceptor molecules extracted from corn fiber residues from starch industry, into prebiotic oligosaccharides and functional sugar by recruiting catalytic proteins with dextransucrase and D-psicose 3-epimerase activities, or using cell free crude extract of the microbes expressing or secreting the proteins or using the purified enzymes therefrom or enzymes obtained from a cell free protein synthesis system. The invention discloses a route of transformation of cane molasses into a preparation of functional food/nutraceutical and healthful attributes. The preparation may be used as such and/or for recovery of prebiotic oligosaccharides and/or functional sugar (D-psicose) in any state of purity from the preparation.
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