3.

My big idea is
Production of Psicose from Agricultural waste (e.g., Corncobs)
D-psicose, a carbon-3 epimer of fructose, is present as a nonfermentable sugar in cane
molasses and wheat. Based on animal studies and research data, psicose is known to
lower blood glucose levels, reduces weight by lowering hepatic lipogenesis, acts as an
antibacterial agent. So far, psicose consumption showed no adverse effects and hence it is
an ideal no-calorie sugar substitute for people of all ages. Its already being consumed as
component of natural carbohydrates and is used in making confectioneries.
Present day artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, monellin, sucralose etc suffer from
the disadvantages such as being synthetic, contain toxic components (such as chlorine in
case of Sucralose), heat labile (such as aspartame). In contrast, psicose is a purely natural
low calorie sugar with no toxicity and its heat stable. Its sweetness is comparable to the
existing sweeteners in the market. Moreover, it offers additional advantages such as
weight loss, reducing blood sugar levels etc. Thus it is clear that psicose is a superior low
calorie sugar substitute.
Traditionally psicose is manufactured from fructose either by chemical or enzymatic
epimerization. However, fructose being an expensive sugar can raise the cost of the
production process. As an alternative, agricultural by-products can be converted to
fructose which, in turn, can produce psicose.
Here we propose the feasiblity of corncobs being utilised for psicose production.
Corncobs are important agricultural by-products with an approximate carbohydrate
composition of 391g cellulose, 421g hemicellulose, 91g lignin, 17g protein and 12g ash
per kg dry matter. They are mainly used as animal feed or are returned to field. Recently,
their utilization for fuel ethanol production is gaining prominence. They can serve as
potential renewable sources of carbohydrates mainly pentoses and hexoses.
Milled corncobs can be treated with dilute ammonia at ambient temperature to remove
lignin. A following acid treatment converts hemicelluloses into pentoses, the chief one
being xylose. The residual insoluble cellulosic fraction can be hydrolysed to glucose
using an acidic zinc chloride treatment. The glucose obtained is subjected to the

enzymatic isomerization to fructose using xylose isomerase (commercially available).

The fructose is then converted to psicose using psicose epimerase produced from
agrobacterium. Psicose can be purified from the residuals using adsorption onto calcium
Zeolite. Immobilization onto calcium alginate makes the repeated use of enzymes
possible thereby reducing the process cost. An additional advantage of the proposal is that
it provides valuable raw materials as by-products that can be modified to yeild
economically important products. Xylose can be converted into Xylitol. Lignin can be
used for the biosynthesis/conversion into vanillin/ferulic acid etc.

4(b) What I propose to do in future with the TEPP support

The present proposal will result in a process validation and standardization for the
production of psicose from agricultural wastes. The completion of the proposed project
will provide us with a prototype for psicose production from agri-wastes. Futher work in
this area includes the scale-up of the process to an industrial level, utilization of the byproducts originating from the process such as lignin for the production of neutraceuticals.
In addition, this process has the potential to produce Xylitol in large scale. Executing
these processes as ancillary processes along with the main Psicose production process is
the ultimate target of the project.
4(d) Who would need this innovation and why?
The product, psicose is equivalent to sucrose in sweetness and offers the additional
advantages such as low calories, potential as an antibiotic, and comparable heat stability
similar to those of natural sugars. Thus the product, being a natural carbohydrate can join
the kitchens as a sugar substitute. It is preferable for the manufacture of baby foods,
confectionaries etc, as its absolutely safe. It can find its place in pharmaceutical industry
too. Apart from all these, it can be utilized in the laboratory for the synthesis of other rare
monosaccharides or their derivatives.