What is black yeast beta-glucan?

Beta-glucan supports good health

Maintaining youth and the functions of the body are possible only if one is healthy. Beta-glucan is attracting considerable attention in health conscious countries such as the United States and Japan. Black yeast is cultured using the latest biotechnology. The resulting thick liquid contains a large amount of evenly dispersed beta-1,3/1,6 glucan, which is currently attracting a lot of attention.

Aureo’s black yeast beta-glucan

Black yeast beta-glucan is categorized as dietary fiber and a type of polysaccharide. Beta-glucan is present in the cell wall of yeasts and filamentous fungi, as well as in mushrooms (Agaricus sp., Ganoderma lucidum, etc.). The black yeast beta-glucan described here is obtained from black yeast (Latin name: Aureobasidium pullulans).

If black yeast is cultured under special conditions it forms a gel. The gel is rich in quality beta-glucan. Aureobasidium (black yeast) cultured solution was officially given food additive status in Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan 1 (current Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)1 on April 16, 1996. (The notification was published in the gazette issued by the Ministry of Finance of Japan.)
*1. Food additives derived from natural ingredients are listed in Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. Such additives are officially categorized as ‘existing food additives’.

The natural culturing method ensures that the product is gentle to the body

Black yeast beta-glucan is produced using a culture method developed based on our unique biotechnology, and no chemical purification or extraction that uses artificial materials is carried out. The only process that we carry out is heat sterilization. As such, black yeast beta-glucan is a truly natural, unprocessed food supplement that is safe.

Structure of black yeast beta-glucan

Beta-glucan is a type of polysaccharide, which is made up of many glucose molecules linked together. Sugars are categorized in accordance with their structure. A monosaccharide is made up of a single sugar molecule that cannot be broken down into simpler sugars, a disaccharide is made of two monosaccharides, and a polysaccharide is a compound made of ten or more monosaccharides. Typical monosaccharides are glucose and fructose, a typical disaccharide is sucrose (which is commonly called ‘sugar’, and typical polysaccharides are glucan and dextrin.
Glucans can be divided into alpha- and beta-glucans according to the way the glucose is linked. The structure of black yeast beta-glucan is special; it consists of a trunk (main chain) with many branches (side chains). The structure of the trunk is ‘1,3’, and the structure of the branch is ‘1,6’, so it is called beta-1,3/1,6 glucan.

Development of Aureo beta-glucan

It was in the 1970s that a sugar refinery accidentally found a small amount of a gel (semi-liquid) in the production process. The company analyzed the gel substance and found that it was a polysaccharide produced by a type of black yeast.
Since then, many studies have been carried out on this black yeast and methods of culturing it, and finally, a gel substance containing a large amount of beta-glucan, Aureobasidium cultured solution (Black yeast beta-glucan) was successfully produced.
We wanted to make this wonderful Aureobasidium cultured solution widely available to people, so we developed this food supplement, Aureo beta-glucan.

Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan

Aureobasidium (black yeast) cultured solution was officially given food additive status in Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan (current Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)1 on April 16, 1996. (The notification was published in the gazette issued by the Ministry of Finance of Japan.)
Moreover, the examination of a review of the safety of existing food additives by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan re-confirmed the safety of Aureobasidium cultured solution (results were published in June 2004).

1. Food additives derived from natural ingredients are listed in Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. These additives are officially categorized as ‘existing food additives’.

Note: Notification No. 120, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan verifies the safety of the product as a food, but it does not indicate that the product is a food for specified health use (i.e. it does not verify efficacy).

Information on Aureobasidium (black yeast) cultured solution by Japan Food Additives Association

EXISTING FOOD ADDITIVES LIST NUMBER 1

Name of food additive

Aureobasidium cultured solution (main component: beta-1,3/1,6 glucan)

Simplified name or category name