American Journal of Food Technology1557-45711557-458XAcademic Journals Inc.10.3923/ajft.2014.144.150Bacillus subtilis Natto CCT 7712]]>Bittencourt da SilvaPatricia BorsatoDionisio Antonia Pedrine Colabone CelligoiMaria 3201493Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are fructose oligomers containing a glucose residue at the end of the chain and its production takes place by the action of fructosyltransferase in plants and micro-organisms. FOS have functional properties that make them important food ingredients, with functions of regulating lipid metabolism, increased intestinal calcium absorption and being prebiotic selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of beneficial bacteria to the body. Bacillus subtilis natto produces levan by fermentation in medium rich in sucrose. Levan is synthesized by the enzyme levansucrase which is also responsible for the synthesis of FOS. The aim of this study was to evaluate by statistical methodology, using a central composite factorial design, the influence of varying sucrose concentration (X1), pH (X2) and agitation (X3) in the formation of FOS by B. subtilis natto CCT 7712. Fermentations were conducted in 125 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing 25 mL of culture medium, the media were inoculated with 0.2 g L-1 cells and incubated on orbital shaker at 37°C for 24 h, the other parameters were adjusted according to the experimental design. The production of FOS was accompanied by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) using kestose and nystose as standards. The analysis showed that the pH was significant. The optimum conditions were determined sucrose concentration of 300 g L-1, pH 7.7 and agitation 234 rpm, where production was 98.86 g L-1 and did not differ statistically from the expected value of 106.98 g L-1.]]>Abdel-Fattah, A.F., D.A.R. Mahmoud and M.A.T. Esawy,2005Bacillus subtilis NRC 33a and enzymic synthesis of levan and fructo-oligosaccharides.]]>51402407Bekers, M., J. Laukevics, D. Upite, E. Kaminska, A. Vigants, U. Viesturs, L. Pankova and A. Danilevics,2002Zymomonas mobilis extracellular levansucrase.]]>38701706Biedrzycka, E. and M. Bielecka,200415170175Coimbra, C.G.O., A.V. Lobato and G.M.T. Calazans,20052005El-Refai, H.A., A.F. Abdel-Fattah and F.A. Mostafa,2009Bacillus circulans and improvement of levansucrase stability by carbohydrate coupling.]]>25821827Euzenat, O., A. Guibert and D. Combes,1997Bacillus subtilis C4.]]>32237243Gibson, G.R. and M.B. Roberfroid,199512514011412Joglekar, A.M. and A.T. May,19901990pp: 211-229pp: 211-229Liu, J., J. Luo, H. Ye, Y. Sun, Z. Lu and X. Zeng,2010Paenibacillus polymyxa EJS-3.]]>79206213Park, H.E., N.H. Park, M.H. Kim, T.H. Lee. H.G. Lee, J.Y. Yang and J. Cha,2003Microbacterium laevaniformans ATCC 15953.]]>32820827Patel, S. and A. Goyal,20112711191128Menrad, K.,200356181188Mussatto, S.I., C.N. Aguilar, L.R. Rodrigues and J.A. Teixeira,2009Aspergillus japonicas on synthetic material and application to the production of fructooligosaccharides.]]>344795800Mussatto, S.I. and J.A. Teixeira,2010Aspergillus japonicas using agro-industrial residues as support and nutrient source.]]>53154157Ning, Y., J. Wang, J. Chen, N. Yang, Z. Jin and X. Xu,2010Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous.]]>10174727478Ningegowda, M.A. and P.S. Gurudutt,2012In vitro fermentation of prebiotics by Lactobacillus plantarum CFR 2194: Selectivity, viability and effect of metabolites on β-glucuronidase activity.]]>28901908Sangeetha, P.T., M.N. Ramesh and S.G. Prapulla,200516442457Sangeetha, P.T., M.N. Ramesh and S.G. Prapulla,2005Aspergillus oryzae CFR 202.]]>4010851088Shin, H.T., S.Y. Baig, S.W. Lee, D.S. Suh, S.T. Kwon and Y.B.Lim,2004Aureobasidium pullulans cells.]]>935962Da Silva, C.E.V.,20082008Yun, J.W.,199619107117