Chinese researchers have succeeded in making an accurate total synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide in a laboratory.
Sugar is essential as a source of energy for the daily functioning of the human body and as a key raw material in the food and beverage industry, it is usually derived from crops such as sugar cane. However, this traditional method of extraction is usually more time-consuming due to the whole process behind it. In addition, with global warming, there will be lesser availability of fertile lands to harvest which will eventually affect the traditional process of sugar extraction.
The unpredictable future has warranted scientists to find ways to produce sugar efficiently breaking away from the traditional method of extraction.
Described as artificial sugar synthesis, Chinese scientists adjusted the concentrations of carbon dioxide and other raw materials in the reaction solution, managing specific portions. In this way, they managed to produce 4 types of sugars namely glucose, allulose, tagatose and mannose. After 17 hours, they achieved the expected results, so that the efficiency of the synthesis reached 0.67g per litre per hour, a measure ten times higher than that achieved by other scientists in other parts of the world.
Yang Jiangang, the lead author of the study, is a research associate at the Tianjin Institute. He said the conversion rate of carbon dioxide to glucose reached 59.8 nanomoles of carbon per mg of catalyst per minute, constituting the highest level of artificial sugar production known anywhere in the world.
Jiangang added, “By controlling the various catalytic effects of different enzymes, you can theoretically synthesize almost any kind of sugar.”
