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Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Automated Modular High Throughput Exopolysaccharide Screening Platform Coupled with Highly Sensitive Carbohydrate Fingerprint Analysis
Published on: April 11, 2016
Production and molecular structure of heteropolysaccharides from two lactic acid bacteria
Carsten Nachtigall1, Georg Surber1, Frauke Herbi2
1Chair of Food Engineering, Institute of Natural Materials Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
In the dairy industry, exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced in situ from lactic acid bacteria are of great interest because of their contribution to product texture. Some EPS cause ropiness which might be linked to specific physical and chemical EPS properties. EPS show a broad variety of chemical structures and, because analysis is rather complex, it is still a major challenge to establish structure-function relationships. The aim of this study was to produce EPS with different degree of ropiness, perform in-depth structural elucidations and relate this information to their behaviour in aqueous solutions. After cultivation of Streptococcus thermophilus DGCC7919 and Lactococcus lactis LL-2A and subsequent EPS isolation, both EPS showed similar macromolecular properties, but pronounced differences in monosaccharide composition and glycosidic linkages. Our data suggests that mainly the side chains in the EPS from LL-2A might be responsible for a higher ropiness than that observed for EPS from DGCC7919.
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