Could sialic acid be the next "sodium hyaluronate"?

Nowadays, internal medicine and external nourishment, and medicine and food have the same origin, which has become a well-known TCM theory

According to the information of the State Drug Administration: the N-acetylneuraminic acid declared by Wuhan Zhongke Optics Valley Green Biotechnology Co.

In fact, before N-acetylneuraminic acid was approved as a new cosmetic raw material, the former National Health and Family Planning Commission of China had already approved it as a new food raw material in 2017

N-acetylneuraminic acid is a very precious derivative of neuraminic acid (9-carbon monosaccharide), widely present in vertebrates, mammals and various plant tissues, especially in bird's nest and breast milk with the highest content

Technology to be developed

The production methods of N-acetylneuraminic acid are relatively diverse, mainly including enzymatic synthesis, whole-cell biocatalysis and microbial fermentation; the current mature method is microbial fermentation, using Escherichia coli as the host, using glucose or other cheap Compared with enzymatic synthesis and whole-cell biocatalysis, the direct fermentation production of carbon source saves the production cost

In December 2019, a study published in German Applied Chemistry stated that the N-acylation step of the enzyme was found to be able to biocatalyze the synthesis of unnatural sialoside, a new mechanism for the acylation reaction catalyzed by the enzyme, using the mechanism Sialic acid and its analogs can be synthesized enzymatically by using glucosamine as the starting substrate

A recent study by Thai scholars Supamas et al in 2021 showed that three different extraction methods, namely, acid, alkali and enzyme extraction, were used to compare the effects of different functions of N-acetylneuraminic acid.

In contrast, the enzymatic synthesis method has the advantages of simple extraction and high purity, but it is expensive and not suitable for large-scale production

Strict use regulations

According to Article 14 of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics: "Within 3 years after the registered and filed new cosmetic raw materials are put into use, the new raw material registrant and filing party shall report the use of the new raw materials to the drug regulatory department of the State Council every year.

This means that if other companies want to use the new raw material N-acetylneuraminic acid, they must buy from the company that declared the new raw material, and must let the filer know, and the safety issues of the products they produce also need to be tracked and reported

At present, the application of N-acetylneuraminic acid is mainly concentrated on bird's nest extract, and products directly adding pure N-acetylneuraminic acid are very rare

Great potential for development

N-acetylneuraminic acid has been proven to have health benefits.

In fact, all mammals, including humans, are able to synthesize sialic acid by their own liver

As a new cosmetic raw material that was only approved on June 28, it is expected that sialic acid will soon become a hot spot for new product development

(Comprehensive arrangement by Yang Xiaojing)

"China Food News" (July 19, 2021, 06 edition)

(Editor-in-charge: Yang Xiaojing)