Studies on functional carbohydrates at NFML.
Studies on functional carbohydrates at NFML.

Food carbohydrates vary in the type and number of sugar components, linkages, and structural complexity. These as well as their diversity and distribution in food materials is key to the overall consideration as functional foods. For this reason, functional carbohydrates naturally present in various foods have gained great attention in recent decades. However, the complexity surrounding the structure, sugar linkages as well density in most complex carbohydrates presents a special challenge to their extraction, analysis, and evaluation of physiological effects such as gut microbiota modulation. We develop extraction methods for bioactive carbohydrates, analytical methods as well evaluate the impact these carbohydrates have on human health through gut microbiota modulation.


Research Output:

  1. The analysis of 2′-fucosyllactose concentration in Korean maternal milk using LC–MS/MS. Food Science and Biotechnology 2022, 31(13), 1661-1666.
  2. The human milk oligosaccharides are not affected by pasteurization and freeze-drying. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 2019, 32(6):985-991.
  3. Proteomic analysis of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis reveals the metabolic insight on consumption of prebiotics and host glycans. PLoS One 2013, 8(2):e57535.
  4. Identification and accurate quantitation of biological oligosaccharide mixtures.  Analytical Chemistry 2012, 84(18):7793−7801. 
  5. Human milk oligosaccharides: the novel modulator of intestinal microbiota. BMB Reports 2012, 45(8):433-441.
  6. Oligosaccharide binding proteins from Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis reveal a preference for host glycans. PLoS One 2011, 6(3):e17315. 
  7. Genome analysis of Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010 reveals metabolic pathways for host-derived glycan foraging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2010, 107(45):19514-19519.