Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) have been recently recognised as natural molecules with high potential for nutritional and biomedical applications. They are highly abundant in human milk but not in infant formula, and they are the essential components that make breast milk such an incredibly beneficial food for maintaining health and infant development, especially during the first years of life.

Despite the increasing market demand of these “specialty carbohydrates”, large scale production of HMOs is currently not feasible. Current technologies are hindered by the complexity and costs related to the attempt to increase the availability of the core component L-fucose. It is a rare monosaccharide with limited natural availability that acts as building block for HMOs, representing over 60-70% of the oligosaccharides portion in human milk.

73100 have developed and patented a novel bacterial fermented biopolymer – FucoPol – as a natural source for the efficient production of pure L-fucose. As a natural source of pure monosaccharides, FucoPol solves the main industrial issues related to L-fucose production such as the complexity, costs and efficiency. FucoPol’s bio-based platform offers a sustainable solution for industrial-commercialization of HMOs, by significantly increasing L-fucose availability. With this process, it is possible to obtain a stable secure supply of L-fucose with at least 95% purity levels.

The final product can then be supplied to HMO manufacturing companies for applications including HMOs for infant food formula, fortified and functional food/beverages, health ingredients for humans and animals and over the counter food supplements.