Student Members: Reece Hoerle Samantha Ziemba Allison Marshall David Meier
Advisors: Dr. Percival Zhang Jae Kim Dr. Cully Hession
About the Project
With the current production process, it is not economically practical to produce L-arabinose on a large scale due to high cost. If production cost can be greatly reduced, many potential advantages to the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, and biofuel industry will emerge. Our project focuses on designing a plant with specific unit operations necessary to produce L-arabinose at a low-cost and safe enough for human consumption. The hypothesized process will convert D-xylose to L-arabinose using a three-enzymes system paired with a selective species of yeast for adsorption. This process will greatly reduce the cost of producing L-arbinose, allowing it to be available commercially. L-arabinose has the potential to become a critical component in many food items as a zero calorie sweetener with the capability of partially inhibiting sucrase activity within the small intestine. This greatly reduces the amount of sucrose hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose, reducing the spike in blood sugar levels. Through this project, a low cost and energy-efficient process for producing L-arabinose will be created, leading to various health and industry benefits.