GOS feed beneficial gut bacteria and support health from infancy to adulthood. CarbExplore tailors GOS mixtures for various applications.
Earlier this year, this CarbExplore blog series kicked off with a short article about human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and their role in baby health. But as with anything in nature, that was only part of the story. Another carbohydrate class, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), plays a crucial role as a bifidogenic factor—from our time as babies to well into our adult life.
A main demographic of healthy gut bacteria is the genus Bifidobacterium, especially in babies and infants. These bacteria have a lot to boast about when it comes to promoting health. Research on both human and animal models has demonstrated a clear link between bifidobacteria supplementation and improvements in gastrointestinal, immunological, and even skin conditions.
While there are several natural sources of bifidobacteria (such as at birth and through breastfeeding), bacteria can only survive in an environment that is friendly to them. This is where bifidogenic factors come in: molecules that promote the growth and proliferation of bifidobacteria.
Since bifidobacteria are carbohydrate lovers, they thrive in the carbohydrate-rich environment of human milk creating a true bifidobacteria paradise in the baby’s gut.
While HMOs have well-known bifidogenic properties, another key carbohydrate in the bifido cocktail is galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). Just like HMOs, GOS are indigestible by our own gut enzymes. Instead, they serve as food for the beneficial bacteria living in the gut.
These bacteria possess digestive enzymes that we humans lack, allowing them to convert GOS into energy. At the same time, they produce side-products that further benefit human health.
The structure of GOS
What do GOS look like? These oligosaccharides are composed of chains of galactose units linked to a terminal glucose or galactose.
GOS can vary in length, composition, and linkage depending on the source and method of production. Many beta-galactosidase enzyme variants can produce GOS from lactose. This variability in GOS composition plays a significant role in their impact on human health.
By understanding how beta-galactosidase variants produce GOS, we can tailor GOS mixtures to target different applications. These include:
Adding GOS to baby formula to promote healthy gut bacteria in infants.
Using GOS as a functional ingredient to help relieve gastrointestinal distress in adults.
At CarbExplore, our enzyme toolkit includes several enzymes capable of producing different GOS mixtures. In addition, our glucansucrase enzymes—the jacks-of-all-trades of carbohydrate conversions—can build gluco-oligosaccharides from sugar and also modify lactose and GOS.
Just like our enzymes, our team of experts is eager to mix up GOS cocktails that can be applied across many different health-promoting areas.
Get in touch with our team to explore collaboration opportunities.
