A comprehensive review on the properties, production, and applications of functional glucobioses

AbstractGlucobiose is a range of disaccharides consisting of two glucose molecules, generally including trehalose, kojibiose, sophorose, nigerose, laminaribiose, maltose, cellobiose, isomaltose, and gentiobiose. The difference glycosidic bonds of two glucose molecules result in the diverse molecular structures, physiochemical properties and physiological functions of these glucobioses. Some glucobioses are abundant in nature but have unconspicuous roles on health like maltose, whereas some rare glucobioses display remarkable biological effects. It is unpractical process to extract these rare glucobioses from natural resources, while biological synthesis is a feasible approach. Recently, the production and application of glucobiose have attracted considerable attention. This review provides a comprehensive overview of glucobioses, including their natural sources and physicochemical properties like structure, sweetness, digestive performance, toxicology, and cariogenicity. Specific enzymes used for the production of various glucobioses and fermentation production processes are summarized. Additionally, their versatile functions and broad applications are also introduced.Keywords: Glucobiosesprebioticsphysicochemical propertiesbiosynthesisapplications Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 22278183, No. 22308118], the Research Program of State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Resources, Jiangnan University [No. SKLF-ZZB-202304], the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [No. BK20210463], the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province [ZR2023QC040].