Erythritol, a calorie free sweetener, is widely used in Asia and gaining
popularity in Europe and America. At the Vienna University of Technology
(VUT), a method has now been developed to produce erythritol from ordinary
straw through geneticallymodifying the fungus Trichoderma reesei.

The improved strain can be directly applied to the straw, where previously
obtaining enzymes from mold cultures used to be cumbersome. Secondly, the
mold can now produce erythritol directly from the straw.

Professor Robert Mach from VUT said "We knew that the mold fungus
Trichoderma reesei is in principle capable of producing erythritol, but
usually only in tiny quantities. By genetically modifying it, we managed to
stimulate the production of an enzyme, which enables the large-scale
production of the sweetener."

[www.tuwien.ac.at]