Abstract #661

# 661
Advances in production of exopolysaccharides and simplified methods for their recovery and quantification.
Luc De Vuyst*1, Frédéric Leroy1, 1Vrije Universiteit Brussel,.

The capacity of strains to produce exopolysaccharides (EPS) is widespread among species of lactic acid bacteria, although the physiological role of these molecules is not clearly understood yet. When EPS are produced during milk fermentation, they confer technological benefits to the fermented end products, such as an improved rheology, a reduced syneresis, and an enhanced body and mouthfeel. In addition, some of these EPS may have beneficial effects on consumer health. This requires optimal and sufficient production of these molecules both in situ and ex situ not only to improve their yields but also to obtain a particular functionality. Therefore, appropriate methods of production and recovery should be established. One particular difficulty relates to the production and processing of the biomass of starter cultures when they produce high concentrations of EPS. All this requires a better understanding of EPS production and regulation mechanisms.

Key Words: lactic acid bacteria, exopolysaccharides, fermentation

Speaker Bio
Luc De Vuyst (°1963, Belgium) finished his studies of Agricultural Chemistry Engineering at Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium) in 1986. As research assistant of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen) at the same university, he obtained a PhD in Agricultural Sciences – Industrial Microbiology in 1990. After research stays at the Netherlands Institute of Dairy Research (NIZO, Ede, The Netherlands), the Department of Microbiology of the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), and the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute (NZDRI, Palmerston North, New Zealand), he was a Postdoctoral Researcher of the FWO-Vlaanderen at Ghent University (1991-1993) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, 1993-1994). In 1994, he became professor at the VUB in the area of industrial microbiology and food biotechnology. He is head of the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology (IMDO). His research on lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria, coagulase-negative staphylococci and yeasts deals with (i) species diversity, microbial physiology, fermentation aspects, modelling, and meta-metabolomics of fermented food ecosystems such as fermented dairy products, fermented sausages, sourdoughs, fermented vegetables and fruits (including cocoa beans), sour beers, and water kefirs; (ii) functional starter cultures regarding bacteriocin, exopolysaccharide, flavour, and health compound production, and (iii) the human colon fermentation process (antimicrobial potential of probiotics; bifidogenic, butyrogenic, and propionogenic effects of inulin-type fructan and arabinoxylan-oligosaccharide prebiotics and their associated gas production by lactate/acetate-converting butyrate-producing colon bacteria). He was promotor of 27 PhD theses in the period 1994-2014; currently, he is promotor of 22 PhD students. He is author of more than 250 international papers with peer review, 35 book chapters, 6 patents, and more than 370 communications worldwide. His work has been cited more than 7500 times; his h-index is 49.