Biotechnological production of human milk oligosaccharides

Human milk contains a large variety of oligosaccharides (HMOs) that have the potential to modulate the gut flora, affect different gastrointestinal functions, and influence inflammatory processes. This review introduces the recent advances in the microbial and coupled enzymatic methods to produce HMOs with grouping them into trisaccharides (sialyllactose and fucosyllactose) and complex oligosaccharides (lacto-N-biose derivatives). The high purity and low cost of HMOs should make their use possible in new fields such as the food or pharmaceutical industries. (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.