• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.572-580
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• 2019

Recently, it has been reported that benzyl alcohol (BzOH) as an additive in cosmetics, food, and medicine lead to toxicity and allergy problem. Then, to circumvent this hurdle, we carried out the synthesis of benzyl alcohol galactoside (BzO-gal). Previously, it was confirmed that BzO-gal was synthesized by transgalactosylation reaction using Escherichia coli (E. coli) ${\beta}$-galactosidase (${\beta}-gal$). Meanwhile, in this study, two peaks of BzO-gal as sodium adduct ion (m/z=293.1004) and protonated ion (m/z=271.1180) were detected in the reaction mixture by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). In addition, the amount of ${\beta}-gal$ and BzOH concentration, temperature, pH, and lactose concentration, respectively, were optimized (${\beta}-gal$, 0.75 U/mL; BzOH, 185 mM; temperature, $40^{\circ}C$, pH, 7.5; lactose, 350 g/l). Under these optimal conditions, 185 mM BzOH was converted into about 131 mM BzO-gal, in which the conversion yield was about 72%. In the future, BzO-gal will be applicable as a substitute for BzOH as a less toxic preservative for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries, and we are planning to investigate the characteristics of BzO-gal as a preservative.