阅读说明：本技术 包含甘露糖寡糖的组合物及其制备方法和用途 (Compositions comprising mannose oligosaccharides, methods of making and uses thereof ) 是由 布鲁诺·弗雷德里克·斯坦格尔 克里斯托夫·弗朗兹·库斯特尔斯 于 2018-06-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种包含甘露糖寡糖的组合物及其制备方法。本发明进一步涉及一种包含甘露糖寡糖的组合物,其用于处理人或动物。(The invention relates to a composition containing mannose oligosaccharide and a preparation method thereof. The invention further relates to a composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides for use in the treatment of a human or animal.)

1. A mannose oligosaccharide composition characterised in that the composition is soluble in water.

2. The composition of claim 1, characterized in that it comprises less than 0.1 wt% db of β -glucan.

3. The composition of any of the preceding claims, further characterized by a mannose oligosaccharide content of 30 w% db or greater.

4. A composition according to any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it has a dimannose content of 10 to 35 wt% db.

5. Composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it has a fructose content of from 0.5 to 10 wt% db, preferably in that it has a mannose content of from 5 to 25 wt% db, preferably in that it has a glucose content of from 1 to 15 wt% db.

6. A food, animal feed or pet food product comprising the composition of any one of claims 1 to 5 and other food, animal feed or pet food ingredients.

7. The food, animal feed or pet food product of claim 6, wherein the composition of any one of claims 1 to 5 is present in one or more serving sufficient to provide 0.01 to 0.02g of the composition per kg of body weight of the human, animal or pet.

8. The food, animal feed or pet food product of claim 6, wherein the composition of any one of claims 1 to 5 is present in an amount of 0.1 to 0.5 wt%, preferably 0.1 to 0.4 wt%, more preferably 0.1 to 0.3 wt%, even more preferably 0.1 to 0.2 wt%, based on the weight of the food, animal feed or pet food product.

9. The food, animal feed or pet food product of claim 6, wherein the composition of any one of claims 1 to 5 is present in an amount of 0.01 to 0.05 wt%, preferably 0.01 to 0.03 wt%, more preferably 0.01 to 0.02 wt%, based on the weight of the food, animal feed or pet food product.

10. A process for the preparation of a composition comprising manno-oligosaccharides characterised in that it comprises the steps of:

a) condensing mannose by passing the mannose through a microreactor at a temperature of 180 ℃ to 240 ℃, preferably 195 ℃ to 240 ℃, in the presence of an acidification catalyst to produce a mannooligosaccharide-containing composition,

b) optionally neutralizing and/or decolorizing said mannooligosaccharide composition,

c) collecting the mannooligosaccharide composition and the mannooligosaccharide composition,

wherein the acidification catalyst is preferably citric acid, sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid.

11. The process according to claim 10, wherein the residence time of mannose in the microreactor during step a) is from 5 to 20 seconds.

12. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 for use in the treatment of humans or animals.

13. Composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5 for use in reducing or preventing bacterial attachment to the intestinal mucosa and/or for improving weight gain and/or improving feed intake and/or improving weight gain and/or improving stool quality in humans and animals.

14. Use of a composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5 for improving the growth performance of an animal.

15. Use of a composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5 for reducing microbial or bacterial contamination or reducing infection, preferably salmonella and/or e.

16. A cosmetic, personal care product or pharmaceutical product comprising the mannooligosaccharide composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cosmetic is preferably a cosmetic cream, a lotion or a lipstick, the personal care product is preferably an oral care product, a hair care product, a skin care product or a hygiene product, or the pharmaceutical product is preferably a disinfectant or a preservative balm.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides and a method of preparing such a composition. The invention further relates to an animal feed comprising the composition of the invention. The invention further relates to a composition according to the invention for treating humans or animals, in particular for promoting growth and/or feed utilization and/or reducing bacterial infections in humans and animals.

Background

There is a need for nutritional supplements to improve the overall health, particularly the intestinal health, of humans, farm animals, farmed fish and pets.

As the world population increases, the demand for animal proteins for human consumption is also growing. The animal production industry is facing the challenge of raising more animals and this is achieved by increasing the animal population and also by improving animal growth performance and overall animal health. Animal health and animal growth performance are key factors for successful breeding of animals. In particular, gastrointestinal health and gastrointestinal integrity are essential factors for animal growth performance, and feed additives can be used to achieve this goal. Another major problem is bacterial contamination, especially in poultry and swine. One widely used method of combating bacterial contamination in animal farming is, for example, the use of certain substances (e.g., antibiotics) in animals to reduce undesirable bacterial populations, rather than kill bacteria, by a binding mechanism that prevents harmful bacteria from attaching to the intestinal surface.

Also, bacterial contamination in food represents an important food safety issue and must be managed and reduced. Especially contamination by salmonella and escherichia coli is an important problem in the food supply chain.

Mannose oligosaccharide compositions are known to improve overall health, particularly intestinal health. The mannose oligosaccharides (or mannose oligosaccharides or MOS) compositions currently on the market are all extracts, such as yeast extract, mainly yeast cell wall extract, green coffee bean extract, konjac extract, and the like. They all present the following disadvantages: are not highly pure compositions and do not have a consistent composition, especially for yeast cell wall extracts, so their effect in animals is less predictable and its effect is very variable. Moreover, most of them are insoluble in water. As a result, their use in liquid feed and drinking water is impractical and therefore limited. Furthermore, the production process of such mannooligosaccharide compositions has a non-negligible environmental impact due to the production of many waste streams.

WO2015160818 a1 relates to the production of an enriched yeast cell wall composition comprising soluble yeast cell wall MOS.

Thus, it is clear that there is still a need to provide more effective feed additives. There is also a need to provide feed additives that are produced in a more environmentally friendly manner. The present invention addresses those needs.

Disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect, the present invention relates to a composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides ("mannose oligosaccharide composition of the invention"), characterised in that the composition is soluble in water.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a food, animal feed, fish feed or pet food product comprising the mannooligosaccharide composition of the invention and other food, animal feed or pet food ingredients.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a personal care or pharmaceutical composition comprising the mannooligosaccharide composition of the invention and other personal care or pharmaceutical ingredients.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a cosmetic, personal care or pharmaceutical product comprising the mannooligosaccharide composition of the invention.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for preparing a composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides, characterized by comprising the steps of:

a) condensing mannose by passing the mannose through a microreactor in the presence of an acidification catalyst at a temperature of 180 ℃ to 240 ℃, preferably 195 ℃ to 240 ℃, to produce a mannooligosaccharide-containing composition,

b) optionally neutralizing and/or decolorizing said mannooligosaccharide composition,

c) optionally refining the mannooligosaccharide composition,

d) collecting the mannooligosaccharide composition.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to the use of the mannose oligosaccharide composition of the invention for the treatment of a human or animal or for the treatment of a mannose oligosaccharide composition of a human or animal.

Detailed Description

The use of "a" or "an" to describe various elements or components herein is for convenience only and is given the general meaning of the invention. The description is to be understood as including one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

In the present specification, the terms mannooligosaccharide, mannooligosaccharide and MOS are used interchangeably to describe them. Mannose oligosaccharides are defined as mannose oligosaccharides with a DP of 3 or more than 3. DP refers to the degree of polymerization, i.e. the number of monomers present in the oligosaccharide. In mannose oligosaccharides, the monomer is mannose. The mannose oligosaccharide composition of the present invention comprises mannose oligosaccharides having a DP of 3 or more, and is characterized in that it is a source of mannose disaccharides, and may further comprise mannose monosaccharides. HPLC analysis (ISO 10504: 1998-10) can be performed to determine the amount and type of various sugars, such as DP1, DP2, DP3 and higher, present in the mannooligosaccharide composition.

The invention is defined in the appended claims. At least one aspect of the present invention is based on the following findings: the composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides according to the invention ("the composition of the invention" or "the mannose oligosaccharide composition of the invention") has an improved effect in humans and animals compared to existing MOS compositions. The MOS composition of the invention has an improvement effect, in particular on the physical performance of humans, on the growth performance of animals, and further on the digestive health, the bacterial/pathogen load control, in particular the bacterial binding; improved impact on the immune system, improved prebiotic effect, improved antimicrobial effect, improved antibacterial effect compared to currently known MOS compositions.

The present invention relates to a composition comprising mannose oligosaccharides characterised in that the composition is soluble in water. The composition of the present invention has a solubility of 20% or more, more preferably 30% or more, even more preferably 40% or more, still more preferably 50% or more, still more preferably 60% or more. Thus, the solubility of the compositions of the present invention may be in the following ranges: 20 to 90%, more preferably 30 to 85%, still more preferably 40 to 80%, still more preferably 50 to 75%, most preferably 60 to 75%. Solubility can be measured according to test a as described below.

Test A

-providing a 10 wt% aqueous solution of the composition to be tested, heating it to 40 ℃ and holding it at 40 ℃ for 1 hour.

-then filtering the composition through a filter of 0.45 μm pore size to remove any insoluble material and recovering the filtrate.

The filtrate was then subjected to HPLC analysis (ISO 10504: 1198-10) and the results recorded

Solubility is expressed in% and corresponds to the total sugar content in the filtrate compared to the dry matter of the initial 10 wt% aqueous solution.

The MOS composition according to the invention can be easily dissolved in water. It forms a clear solution in water.

Preferably, the MOS composition of the invention is further characterized in that it comprises β -glucan in an amount of less than 0.1 wt% db, preferably less than 0.01 wt% db, more preferably less than 0.001 wt% db, most preferably the MOS composition of the invention does not comprise β -glucan the prior art mannose oligosaccharides contain a large amount of β -glucan, typically at a mannose-oligosaccharide: β -glucan ratio of 1: 1 these compositions are believed to have an effect on the immune system due to the high content of β -glucan it has surprisingly been found that the composition of the invention has an effect on the immune system, which may be similar to the effect obtained with prior art compositions, although the composition of the invention contains little to no β -glucan as described above.

Furthermore, the MOS composition is characterized in that it is not derived from yeast or plant fibers, such as from konjac or from coffee beans.

Preferably, the MOS composition of the invention is further characterized in that the mannooligosaccharide content is 30 weight-% (wt%) or more, preferably 40 wt% or more, more preferably 50 wt% or more, even more preferably 60 wt% or more, still more preferably 65 wt% or more, still more preferably 70 wt% or more, still more preferably 80 wt% or more, based on the dry basis (db) of the composition.

The MOS composition of the invention is preferably a source of mannose-disaccharide (DP 2). Thus, preferably the MOS composition of the invention has a DP2 content of 10 to 35 wt% db, preferably 15 to 30 wt% db, preferably 20 to 25 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 30 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 31 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 32 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 33 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 34 wt% db. The DP2 content may be about 35 wt% db.

Furthermore, the MOS composition may comprise fructose in an amount of at most 10 wt% db, such as from 0.5 to 10 wt% db, preferably at most 5 wt% db, more preferably at most 3 wt% db, more preferably at most 1 wt% db.

Furthermore, the MOS composition may comprise mannose in an amount of 5 to 50 wt% db, preferably 5 to 25 wt% db.

Furthermore, the MOS composition may comprise glucose in an amount of 1 to 15 wt% db, preferably 5 to 10 wt% db.

The dry matter of the MOS composition can be adapted to the requirements of its application. The dry matter may be at least 70 wt%, preferably at least 75 wt%, more preferably at least 80 wt%, even more preferably at least 90 wt%, still more preferably at least 95 wt%, such as 95 to 99 wt%. The MOS composition may be stored in powder form or liquid form depending on the intended use. In powder form, the MOS compositions of the invention are stable, yellowish to white, free-flowing powders.

Furthermore, MOS compositions may be characterized by mannose oligosaccharides comprising predominantly α -and β -1,6 and α -1,3 type bonds preferably at least 50%, more preferably at least 75%, even more preferably at least 80% of the bonds are α -and β -1,6 and α -1,3 type bonds.

It has been found that the MOS composition according to the invention has an improved effect on the growth performance of the animal when the composition is fed to the animal. Growth performance of an animal is understood to be the weight gain and feed intake of the animal. In particular, the MOS composition of the invention is characterized by a DP2 above 25 wt% db, e.g. 25 to 30 wt% db, having a further improved effect on animal growth performance. More particularly, the MOS composition of the invention is further characterized in that a DP3+ content of 40 wt% db or less, e.g. 35 to 40 wt% db, has a further improving effect on the growth performance of the animal.

It was further found that the MOS composition according to the invention is capable of modulating the immune system, i.e. of modulating the response of immune cells or macrophages. Thus, the invention further relates to a MOS composition according to the invention for modulating the response of immune cells or macrophages. The invention further relates to the use of a MOS composition according to the invention to modulate the response of immune cells or macrophages.

Furthermore, it has been found that the MOS composition according to the invention increases the proliferation of epithelial cells. The MOS compositions are suitable for repairing damage to animal mucosa, such as intestinal mucosa, by stimulating proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells. Thus, the invention further relates to a MOS composition according to the invention for increasing epithelial cell proliferation. The invention further relates to the use of a MOS composition according to the invention for increasing the proliferation of epithelial cells.

It was further found that the MOS composition according to the invention is suitable for reducing a pathogen load, in particular a bacterial or microbial load, and/or an infection in or on a human or animal. The present invention therefore further relates to a MOS composition according to the invention for use in reducing a pathogen load, in particular a bacterial or microbial load, and/or an infection in or on a human or animal, in particular in the gastrointestinal tract of an animal or human. The invention further relates to the use of the MOS composition according to the invention for reducing a pathogen load, in particular a bacterial or microbial load, and/or an infection in or on a human or an animal.

The invention further relates to a MOS composition according to the invention for use in or for antimicrobial treatment in or on a human or animal. The invention also relates to the use of the MOS composition according to the invention for antimicrobial treatment (therapeutic or non-therapeutic) in or on humans or animals. Such treatment may for example be in the form of a cosmetic or personal care product, such as a skin care product or a pharmaceutical product.

Specifically, a MOS composition characterized by a DP2 of 15 to 25 wt% db, such as about 22 wt% db, and a DP3+ of 45 to 60 wt% db, such as about 50 wt% db, and also specifically a MOS composition characterized by a DP2 content of 10 to 20 wt% db, and a DP3+ content of 55 to 75 wt% db, such as above 60 wt% db, such as 60 to 70 wt% db, preferably 65 to 70 wt% db, is useful for reducing e.

The invention further relates to the use of a MOS composition as described herein for the treatment of a human or an animal. The invention further relates to a MOS composition as described herein for the treatment of a human or animal. Thus, the MOS compositions as described herein may also be used/used as a medicament for the treatment of humans or animals.

The invention further relates to the use of a MOS composition as described herein for improving the growth performance of an animal, including its non-therapeutic use for improving the growth performance of an animal. The MOS compositions as described herein may also be used/used as an agent for improving growth performance of an animal. The MOS composition may be used as a feed additive.

The invention further relates to the use of the MOS composition of the invention for reducing microbial or bacterial contamination or reducing infection, preferably for reducing salmonella and/or e. Thus, the present invention also encompasses MOS compositions as described herein for use in or on reducing microbial or bacterial contamination or for reducing infection, preferably for reducing salmonella and/or e. In particular, MOS compositions having a DP2 of about 22% and a DP3+ (± 1%) of 50% are useful; while MOS compositions with DP3+ above 60% are also useful.

The invention further relates to a MOS composition as described herein for use in improving weight gain and/or improving feed intake and/or improving body weight and/or improving stool quality in a human or animal. This includes therapeutic and non-therapeutic uses thereof in improving weight gain and/or improving feed intake and/or improving body weight and/or improving stool quality in humans or animals.

The invention further relates to a MOS composition as described herein for use in reducing or preventing bacterial attachment to the intestinal mucosa. This includes MOS compositions as described herein for reducing or preventing bacterial attachment to the intestinal mucosa.

Preferably, the animal is poultry (such as chickens, turkeys and quails), pigs, ruminants, horses, aquatic animals (such as fish, e.g. salmon or trout, and shrimp) or pets. More preferably, the animal is poultry or swine. As illustrated in the examples section below, it has been shown in vivo experiments that ingestion of MOS compositions according to the invention is beneficial to the gastrointestinal health of animals and improves the growth performance of animals.

The invention further relates to a food, animal feed or pet food product comprising the MOS composition of the invention and other food, animal feed or pet food ingredients.

One advantage of using the MOS composition of the invention is that it is easy to dissolve, can be better handled and/or dosed, and is therefore very suitable for use in many applications where at least one liquid ingredient is used, like for example liquid food products, like beverages; or liquid feed, such as animal drinking water. Also in the dry mixture, the MOS composition can be easily incorporated.

The food product may be a baked product such as a biscuit, a cookie, a cereal bar, breakfast cereal, a wafer, a cake, bread, muffin, pastry, fried baked good, and the like.

The food product may be a convenient product such as sauce, pudding, soup.

The food product may be a confectionery product such as chocolate, chocolate-like product, soft candy, hard boiled candy, pressed candy, chewing gum, jelly, marshmallow, lozenge, tablet, caramel, nougat, praline, toffee, soft candy, fondant, marzipan, and the like.

The food product may be a beverage. Beverages include any syrup or any alcoholic and non-alcoholic, carbonated and non-carbonated or drinkable solution, including water, beer, lemonade, sweet juice beverages, iced tea, fruit juices, vegetable based beverages, such as grain based beverages, almond based beverages or other nut based beverages, soy based beverages, rice based beverages, and the like. It also includes beverage concentrates and beverage powders. Beverage concentrate refers to a concentrate in liquid form or in the form of a substantially dry mixture. Beverage concentrates are typically formulated to provide a drinkable beverage composition or final beverage when constituted or diluted with water (carbonated or non-carbonated). The beverage powder is suitably combined with carbonated or non-carbonated water or milk to form the final beverage.

The food product may be a dairy product such as milk, whey, yoghurt and drinks based thereon; milk-based cocoa drinks, fermented desserts (e.g. fresh cheese preparations, drinkable products), ice cream, milkshakes, frozen yoghurt, neutral dairy desserts (e.g. puddings, flans, cream desserts, whipped desserts) and flavored yoghurt preparations (e.g. fruit yoghurt without fruit), frozen dairy desserts and the like.

The food product may also be baby food, infant food and food supplements.

The food product may also be a food product specifically designed for the needs of the elderly.

The animal feed product may be a feed product designed for feeding pigs (preferably piglets) or chickens, such as a feed for broiler chickens or a feed for laying hens, or a fish feed, such as salmon or trout. The animal feed may also be horse feed. The pig feed, chicken feed, fish feed or horse feed comprises, in addition to the MOS composition of the invention, feed ingredients which are commonly or exclusively used in such animal feed. Those skilled in the art of preparing animal feed know the typical and specific composition of animal feed. MOS compositions are also well suited for use as feed supplements. Since it is soluble, it can be easily added to, for example, drinking water. Other feed ingredients of the feed product may be other carbohydrates and fibres, such as glucans, arabinoxylan oligosaccharides, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals etc. Depending on the animal species, the composition of the feed will vary; the skilled person knows how to formulate a suitable feed composition.

Preferably, the MOS composition is present in the food, animal feed or pet food product in an amount providing 0.01 to 20g, preferably 0.01 to 10g, of MOS composition per kg body weight of the human, animal or pet per day in one or more parts. Preferably, especially for animals or pets, the MOS composition is present in the animal feed or pet food product in an amount providing 0.01 to 0.02g of MOS composition per kg of animal or pet body weight per day in one or more parts. In particular, the food, animal feed or pet food product may comprise 0.02 to 0.6 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the food, animal feed or pet food product.

In one aspect, the food, animal feed or pet food (preferably pig feed) comprises 0.1 to 0.5 wt%, preferably 0.1 to 0.4 wt%, even more preferably 0.1 to 0.3 wt%, still even more preferably 0.1 to 0.2 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the food, animal feed or pet food product.

In another aspect, the food, animal feed or pet food (preferably poultry feed) comprises 0.01 to 0.05 wt%, preferably 0.01 to 0.04 wt%, even more preferably 0.01 to 0.03 wt%, still even more preferably 0.01 to 0.02 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the food, animal feed or pet food product.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a cosmetic product comprising the MOS composition of the invention and other cosmetic ingredients, in particular in a product having antimicrobial properties. The cosmetic may be cream, lotion, lipstick, etc. Preferably, the cosmetic may comprise from 0.01 to 30 wt%, preferably from 0.01 to 20 wt%, more preferably from 1 to 15 wt%, even more preferably from 5 to 10 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the cosmetic. The invention also relates to the use of the MOS composition in cosmetics. In particular, the invention also relates to the use of the MOS composition in cosmetics with antimicrobial properties.

The present invention also relates to a personal care product comprising the MOS composition of the present invention and other personal care product ingredients, especially in products having antimicrobial properties. The personal care product can be a body lotion, an oral care product (mouthwash, toothpaste, etc.), a hair care product, a hygiene product such as a hand gel, a wet towel or wipe (baby wipe, intimate wipe, cleansing makeup removal wipe), and the like. Also included in personal care products are skin care products such as cleansing lotions and solutions, face and hand creams, body lotions, moisturizers, acne treatment products, body fragrances, and the like. Preferably, the personal care product may comprise from 0.01 to 30 wt%, preferably from 0.01 to 20 wt%, more preferably from 1 to 15 wt%, even more preferably from 5 to 10 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the personal care product. The invention also relates to the use of the MOS composition according to the invention in a personal care product. In particular, the MOS compositions according to the invention are suitable for use in personal care products having antimicrobial properties.

The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical product comprising the MOS composition of the invention and other pharmaceutical ingredients. The personal care product may be a hand cream. The medicinal products include disinfectant, antiseptic balm, etc.

Preferably, the pharmaceutical product may comprise from 0.01 wt% to 20 wt% of the MOS composition of the invention, based on the weight of the pharmaceutical product.

The present invention further relates to a process for the preparation of a mannooligosaccharide composition, which process comprises the steps of:

a) condensing mannose by passing the mannose through a microreactor at a temperature of 180 ℃ to 240 ℃, preferably 195 ℃ to 240 ℃, in the presence of an acidification catalyst to produce a mannooligosaccharide-containing composition,

b) optionally neutralizing and/or decolorizing said mannooligosaccharide composition,

c) optionally refining the mannooligosaccharide composition,

d) collecting the mannooligosaccharide composition.

The mannose may be a mannose containing composition, isolated mannose, a mannose solution or a mixture of these. Preferably, the mannose is an aqueous mannose solution. The concentration of mannose in the aqueous mannose solution is not critical, however, it is advantageous to concentrate the aqueous mannose solution as much as possible to meet viscosity requirements. Thus, advantageously the aqueous mannose solution comprises 10 to 90 wt% dry matter, preferably 15 to 80 wt% dry matter, more preferably 40 to 70 wt% dry matter, even more preferably 50 to 60 wt% dry matter. Most preferably, the aqueous mannose solution comprises 75 to 90 wt% dry matter.

The weight ratio of the amount of acidification catalyst to mannose is preferably as follows: mannose: acidifying catalyst is from 100: 0.005 to 100: 20, more preferably from 100: 0.5 to 100: 10, even more preferably from 100: 1 to 100: 5.

Preferably, the acidification catalyst is citric acid, sulfuric acid and/or phosphoric acid.

Preferably, the acidification catalyst is mixed with mannose before it passes through the microreactor.

Preferably, the temperature of step a) is from 180 ℃ to 230 ℃, more preferably from 195 ℃ to 220 ℃, even more preferably from 195 ℃ to 210 ℃ and still even more preferably from 195 ℃ to 200 ℃.

The residence time of the mannose containing composition in the microreactor during step a) is preferably 5 to 20 seconds, more preferably 10 to 15 seconds.

Preferably, prior to step a), the mannose is passed through a first microreactor in the presence of an acidification catalyst at a temperature lower than the temperature of step a) above. The lower temperature is preferably from 100 ℃ to 180 ℃, more preferably from 120 ℃ to 175 ℃, even more preferably from 140 ℃ to 170 ℃, even more preferably from 150 ℃ to 165 ℃. Some polycondensation reaction may have occurred during this step. Preferably, the residence time of the mannose containing composition in the first microreactor is rather short, such as 5 seconds or less, preferably 4 seconds or less, more preferably 3 seconds or less, even more preferably 2 seconds or less, such as 0.5 to 2 seconds or 0.5 to 1 second.

When the process is carried out, for example, batchwise, the first microreactor and the microreactor of step a) may have the same configuration, they may be similar, and may even be the same microreactor. The process of the invention can be carried out batchwise, semicontinuously, pulsed or continuously, preferably continuously.

Preferably, therefore, the present invention relates to a method comprising

a0) Passing mannose through a microreactor in the presence of an acidification catalyst at a temperature of from 100 ℃ to 180 ℃ to obtain heated mannose,

a) polycondensing the heated mannose at a temperature of 180 ℃ to 240 ℃, preferably 195 ℃ to 240 ℃ through a microreactor in the presence of an acidification catalyst,

b) optionally neutralizing and/or decolorizing said mannooligosaccharide composition,

c) optionally refining the mannooligosaccharide composition,

d) collecting the mannooligosaccharide composition and the mannooligosaccharide composition,

wherein the acidification catalyst is preferably citric acid/sulphuric acid and/or phosphoric acid.

If desired, a cooling step may be performed to lower the temperature of the mannooligosaccharide composition before collecting the mannooligosaccharide composition or after step c) and/or d).

Preferably, the mannooligosaccharide composition is neutralized. Neutralization of the mannooligosaccharide composition may be carried out until the pH of the composition reaches 4 to 7. This is advantageous for increasing the stability of the product, e.g. over time, hydrolysis becomes less and thus the composition of the product changes less to no change. Another advantage is that the product is subsequently suitable for use with other ingredients that are sensitive to acids or acidic conditions. Neutralization can be carried out with any suitable base. Preferably, the alkali is caustic and/or potassium hydroxide, especially when the mannooligosaccharide composition is used in food and possibly also in feed and pet food.

It should be noted that it is possible to neutralize the mannooligosaccharide composition or to decolorize the mannooligosaccharide composition or to carry out both treatments simultaneously.

Preferably, the mannooligosaccharide composition is refined. Refining the resulting mannooligosaccharide composition can be accomplished by passing it through a series of anionic and cationic resins and/or polishing agents such as activated carbon and/or by chromatography. In particular, refining may be performed to remove some or all of the mannose from the composition. The mannooligosaccharide composition is particularly advantageous when it is to be used in food applications.

The invention further relates to a MOS composition obtainable by the method of the invention. In fact, such MOS compositions have, inter alia, an improved effect as described herein.

The invention will be illustrated by the following non-limiting examples.