Colanic Acid's Physicochemical Characteristics and Application Prospects

Seebio colanic acid (CAS: 9012-87-7) is an extremely valuable functional ingredient choice in formulations for functional foods, cosmetics, and personal care products due to its unique loose porous structure, hydrophilic properties, and potential bioactivity. It has a wide range of applications in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical healthcare industries.

Loose Porous Structure: The loose porous structure of colanic acid imparts excellent water-holding capabilities. This structure can be used in formulating food products to adjust their texture and mouthfeel. For example, adding colanic acid can increase the product's moistness and enhance its mouthfeel.

Hydrophilic Groups: The abundance of hydrophilic groups on the surface of colanic acid molecules gives it excellent hydrophilic properties. This allows colanic acid to effectively retain moisture in food products, extending their shelf life and preventing them from becoming hard or dry. In the production of moisturizing food products, colanic acid can be used to enhance moisture retention, as well as thicken and stabilize the product, thereby improving its texture, mouthfeel, and shelf life.

Excellent Biological Characteristics: Colanic acid possesses the characteristics of active biopolymers, suggesting that it may exhibit some bioactivity in food, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes colanic acid a potential functional ingredient that contributes to the nutritional and health-enhancing properties of health foods.

Colanic acid is an extracellular polysaccharide synthesized by bacteria. It serves as a chemical defense substance to protect cell surfaces and aid in the formation of biofilms. Colanic acid consists of a heteropolymeric polysaccharide with a repeating hexose unit composed of glucose, galactose, fucose, and glucuronic acid. It also includes O-acetyl and pyruvic acid side chains surrounding these sugar molecules.

Food Applications:

Colanic acid, as a polysaccharide substance, holds vast potential in the food industry. Its molecular structure forms a spherical chain that exhibits viscosity in aqueous solutions, particularly displaying viscoelastic properties at high concentrations. Microbial extracellular polysaccharides like colanic acid have unique functions in the food industry, including applications in fermented dairy products, bread, and more. Under different induction conditions, colanic acid can produce water gels with varying properties, enhancing moisture retention and providing innovative solutions for the food industry.

Recent Research Advances:

Colanic acid, as a polysaccharide substance, shows extensive applications in the food, cosmetics, and healthcare sectors. Research has enabled the production of colanic acid through engineered Escherichia coli, resulting in colanic acid with a triple-helix structure, imparting unique properties. This colanic acid remains stable at temperatures as high as 102°C, with a melting point of 253.9°C, making it suitable for various applications even under high-temperature conditions. In aqueous solutions, colanic acid adopts a spherical chain conformation, and its viscosity is influenced by factors such as concentration, shear rate, salt content, temperature, and pH. Particularly at high concentrations, colanic acid exhibits viscoelastic behavior, making it versatile for applications in food processing and beyond.

Microbial extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) find application in the food processing industry. EPSs, synthesized and secreted by microorganisms like bacteria, yeast, fungi, and microalgae, include polysaccharides such as glucans and colanic acid from various microbial sources. These polysaccharides often possess advantages like non-toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and renewability. Due to their unique properties and structural composition, microbial EPSs exhibit distinctive functional characteristics in the food industry. These microbial EPSs and their derivatives find applications in food systems like fermented dairy products, bread products, cereal products, beverages, as well as in applications such as active ingredient delivery, coatings, and membranes, providing diverse options for innovation in the food industry.

Enhancing Colanic Acid Production by Regulating Acyl Lipid Synthesis in Escherichia coli: Colanic acid, with its exceptional physical properties and bioactivity, holds vast prospects in the food and healthcare markets. Studies have shown that by modulating genes related to acyl lipid synthesis in Escherichia coli, colanic acid production can be significantly increased. Researchers have employed strategies involving the deletion of single or multiple genes associated with acyl lipid synthesis, successfully enhancing colanic acid production.

Improving Moisture Retention Properties of Bacterial Hydrogels by Regulating Colanic Acid Biosynthesis Genes: Under various induction conditions, water gels with different crystallinity, rheological properties, and moisture retention capabilities have been produced. This strategy significantly enhances the moisture retention properties of hydrogels, making the gel network denser. This method provides a new approach to modify bacterial hydrogels and is poised to find broader applications in the food industry and biomedical fields.

Daily Care Applications:

Colanic Acid (CA) holds multifaceted potential. Its porous cellulose structure and abundant hydrophilic groups allow it to form an exceptional hydrogel on glucuronic acid surfaces, exhibiting outstanding water-retention capabilities and a soft texture. These unique properties position Colanic Acid as an ideal candidate for skincare applications.

CA is an extracellular polysaccharide synthesized by Escherichia coli and is part of the biofilm matrix, presenting a wide range of potential applications in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Additionally, one of the components in CA, L-rhamnose, displays various physiological activities such as skin whitening, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties. The porous cellulose structure and numerous hydrophilic groups in CA enable it to form a high-quality hydrogel with excellent water-retention capabilities and a soft texture on glucuronic acid surfaces. Therefore, in the cosmetics and healthcare markets, Colanic Acid is poised to become an ideal application candidate.

Healthcare Applications: Significantly Extending Lifespan, Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Tumor, and Inhibition of Alzheimer's Beta-Amyloid Accumulation

Focusing on the potential medical applications of Colanic Acid, particularly its role in extending lifespan, reveals certain mutations in gut bacteria lead to excessive Colanic Acid production, thus extending the lifespan of nematodes. This phenomenon is closely related to the regulation of mitochondrial fission and fusion processes, in which Colanic Acid exerts an influence. Further research has confirmed that by knocking out specific bacterial genes, nematodes are not only protected from tumor growth but can also suppress the accumulation of beta-amyloid, one of the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. This discovery highlights the critical role played by gut microbiota and Colanic Acid in regulating lifespan and preventing age-related diseases.

Advances in Related Research:

The Connection between Colanic Acid, Gut Bacteria, and Nematode Lifespan: Research has uncovered that certain bacterial mutations result in excessive Colanic Acid production, leading to an extension of nematode lifespan. This phenomenon is intricately linked to the regulation of mitochondrial fission and fusion processes, in which Colanic Acid plays a role. Researchers have further confirmed that by knocking out specific bacterial genes, nematodes not only become resistant to tumor growth but can also inhibit the accumulation of beta-amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. This finding underscores the vital role of gut microbiota and Colanic Acid in regulating lifespan and preventing age-related diseases.

Interaction between Mitochondria and Gut Microbiota Aging: Mitochondria, as essential organelles responsible for cellular energy production, play a crucial role in regulating metabolism and lifespan. Recent research has demonstrated that gut microbiota can significantly impact host metabolism and lifespan. By comparing the dynamics of mitochondrial fission-fusion with microbial quorum sensing, this research suggests that gut microbiota may influence hosts by communicating with the mitochondria within host cells. The study reveals how metabolites produced by bacteria, including Colanic Acid, can fine-tune mitochondrial dynamics in intestinal cells, affecting the host's metabolic adaptability and lifespan. This chemically-mediated interaction between bacteria and mitochondria provides valuable insights into understanding complex environmental-microbiota-host interactions and their critical roles in maintaining health and facilitating disease. Additionally, one of the components in CA, L-fucose, displays various physiological activities such as skin whitening, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties.

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Referrence:

1. Jun Qiao. Colanic acid: biosynthetic overproduction by engineering Bacillus subtilis and characterization of physical properties. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c04823

2. Dilhun Keriman Arserim Ucar. Exopolysaccharides in Food Processing Industrials. DOI.10.1007/978-3-030-75289-7_8

3. Jiaxin Wu. Regulating Cardiolipin Biosynthesis for Efficient Production of Colanic Acid in Escherichia coli.. DOI.10.1021/acs.jafc.3c01414

4. Dan Liu. Production of bacterial cellulose hydrogels with tailored crystallinity from Enterobacter sp. FY-07 by the controlled expression of colanic acid synthetic genes.. DOI.10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.12.014

5.Eun Ju Yun. Increased Production of Colanic Acid by an Engineered Escherichia coli Strain. Mediated by Genetic and Environmental Perturbations. DOI.10.1007/s12010-021-03671-0

6. Bing Han. ‘Inside Out’– a dialogue between mitochondria and bacteria. DOI.10.1111/febs.14692