Gastrointestinal conditions influence the solution behaviour of cereal beta-glucans in vitro
Author
Summary, in English
The solution behaviour of b-glucans in a gastrointestinal model was investigated in order to explore the mechanisms explaining the physiological effects of the soluble fibre. Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation was used to determine the molar mass distribution, and in-line calcofluor labelling allowed specific
detection of b-glucans in complex samples. When dispersed in water, weight-average molar mass (Mw) was determined to 1 * 10^6 g/mol for pure oat and barley b-glucans, and 200 * 10^6 g/mol for b-glucans
in oat bran, indicating that the b-glucans were aggregating. Samples from the gastric digestion displayed disrupted aggregates, while samples from the small intestinal digestion contained re-formed
aggregates. Additionally, the aggregates from pure b-glucans were considerably denser after intestinal digestion. This may be construed as gel-formation in the small intestine, which should be tested for its relevance to health effects. Our results signal the difficulties in predicting b-glucan activity in the gastrointestinal tract purely from analysis of the fibre-rich product.
detection of b-glucans in complex samples. When dispersed in water, weight-average molar mass (Mw) was determined to 1 * 10^6 g/mol for pure oat and barley b-glucans, and 200 * 10^6 g/mol for b-glucans
in oat bran, indicating that the b-glucans were aggregating. Samples from the gastric digestion displayed disrupted aggregates, while samples from the small intestinal digestion contained re-formed
aggregates. Additionally, the aggregates from pure b-glucans were considerably denser after intestinal digestion. This may be construed as gel-formation in the small intestine, which should be tested for its relevance to health effects. Our results signal the difficulties in predicting b-glucan activity in the gastrointestinal tract purely from analysis of the fibre-rich product.
Department/s
- Pure and Applied Biochemistry
- Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition
Publishing year
2012
Language
English
Pages
536-540
Publication/Series
Food Chemistry
Volume
130
Issue
3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Food Engineering
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Keywords
- Cereal b-glucan
- Oat bran
- Field-flow fractionation
- Gastrointestinal model
- Calcofluor
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1873-7072