ABSTRACT
Trehalose has a remarkable capacity to protect cells and their component macromolecules against a daunting array of environmental stresses – from extreme heat (1,2) to freezing cold (3), from anoxia (4) to oxidative damage (5), from osmotic stress (6) to withering dehydration (7). The disaccharide is one of a group of unrelated small molecules known alternatively as compatible solutes (osmolytes) or chemical chaperones — the former because even high concentrations do not inhibit enzyme activity (8), and the latter in recognition of their stabilizing effects on proteins (9). Their properties read like the pages of a superhero comic, and indeed harnessing them has long been largely a province of the imagination, making investigation in this area an exciting frontier in food biotechnology.
