| WARF: P91020US |  |
| Brazzein Sweetener |
| INVENTORS | • | Goran Hellekant, Ding Ming |
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in the sweet protein Brazzein, which can be used alone or in combination with other sweeteners to sweeten the taste of foods.
OVERVIEW
The consumption of sugar, the most widely-used sweetener, can lead to significant problems such as undesirable weight gain due to its high calorie content. Most other sweeteners either have unwanted side effects or temporal sweetness profiles that do not adequately match that of sugar.
THE INVENTION
UW-Madison researchers have isolated the sweet protein Brazzein from the smoked and dried berries of the plant Pentadiplandra brazzeana. The protein can be used alone or in combination with other sweeteners to sweeten the taste of foods. The invention includes the gene encoding the Brazzein protein and a recombinant host cell capable of producing large quantities of the protein.
APPLICATIONS
- Sweetening food
KEY BENEFITS
- Many times sweeter per unit weight than sugar
- Lower in calories than sugar
- Brazzein's sweet taste lasts a relatively long time, making it suitable for mixing with other artificial sweeteners that produce rapid but fleeting sweetness responses
- Stable when exposed to elevated temperatures for long periods, making it suitable for use in baking
- Expected to increase the thermo-stability of enzymes when mixed with them
- Genetic system can provide Brazzein in large quantities and at low cost
- Cloned DNA may be suitable for insertion into plant hosts, allowing potential production of sweetened plants and plant materials
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For More Information About the Inventors
Intellectual Property Status
Tech Fields
Food & Supplements - Ingredients
Agriculture - Plant biotech
CONTACT INFORMATION
For current licensing status, please contact our team at
licensing@warf.org
or phone 608.262.4924. (Clicking this link will open a contact form in a popup window. If you have problems viewing the form, try disabling your popup blocker software.)
Since its founding in 1925 as the patenting and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WARF has been working with business and industry to transform university research into products that benefit society. WARF intellectual property managers and licensing staff members are leaders in the field of university-based technology transfer. They are familiar with the intricacies of patenting, have worked with researchers in relevant disciplines, understand industries and markets, and have negotiated innovative licensing strategies to meet the individual needs of business clients.
