Structure and Function of Polysaccharides and Oligosaccharides in Foods

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Physics and (Bio)Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2024) | Viewed by 4632

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Interests: starch modification; structure-functional property of polysaccharides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Interests: structure–function relationship of polysaccharides

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Guest Editor
Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Interests: polysaccharide structures; fermentation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polysaccharides, a group of common biopolymers, are abundantly found in various types of foods, where they exhibit heterogenous structures that give rise to diverse functions. Oligosaccharides are derived from polysaccharides, but have smaller molecular sizes, leading to distinct functions. One important role of these biomolecules is to supply daily energy sources, such as starches. In addition, polysaccharides and oligosaccharides contribute to the texture and mouthfeel of food products, enhancing their flavors and overall qualities. The non-starch polysaccharides and oligosaccharides can also serve as valuable sources of dietary fiber. Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides also exhibit other health-promoting properties, such as immunomodulatory effects, which contribute to overall well-being and potentially aid in disease prevention. However, there exists a gap to be addressed between structural information and functional applications. Conversely, studies with polysaccharide structural information often lack an underlying mechanism of how these structures contribute to the improvement of food product functions. Given the growing health concerns and the demand for special functional components, it is necessary to establish a fundamental understanding of polysaccharide structures and their relationship to functional properties in order to engineer high-quality and functional food products.

In this Special Issue of Foods, we aim to compile a collection of innovative research that provides a fundamental understanding of the molecular structure of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides, while also exploring their functional properties in foods.

Prof. Dr. Zhongquan Sui
Dr. Mengting Ma
Dr. Tianming Yao
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • carbohydrates
  • dietary fiber
  • polysaccharides
  • oligosaccharides
  • molecular structures
  • physicochemical properties
  • functional properties

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 182 KiB  
Editorial
Structure and Function of Polysaccharides and Oligosaccharides in Foods
by Tianming Yao, Mengting Ma and Zhongquan Sui
Foods 2023, 12(20), 3872; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12203872 - 23 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2126
Abstract
Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides are abundantly found in various foods [...] Full article

Research

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16 pages, 1263 KiB  
Article
Impact of Six Extraction Methods on Molecular Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Polysaccharides from Young Hulless Barley Leaves
by Mingming Wang, Chuangchuang Zhang, Yuting Xu, Mengting Ma, Tianming Yao and Zhongquan Sui
Foods 2023, 12(18), 3381; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12183381 - 9 Sep 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1786
Abstract
Young hulless barley leaves are gaining recognition for potential health benefits, and the method of extracting polysaccharides from them is critical for potential food industry applications. This study delves into a comparative analysis of six distinct fiber extraction techniques: hot water extraction; high-pressure [...] Read more.
Young hulless barley leaves are gaining recognition for potential health benefits, and the method of extracting polysaccharides from them is critical for potential food industry applications. This study delves into a comparative analysis of six distinct fiber extraction techniques: hot water extraction; high-pressure steam extraction; alkaline extraction; xylanase extraction; cellulase extraction; and combined xylanase and cellulase extraction. This analysis included a thorough comparison of polysaccharide–monosaccharide composition, structural properties, antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP), and rheological properties among fibers extracted using these methods. The results underscore that the combined enzymatic extraction method yielded the highest extraction yield (22.63%), while the rest of the methods yielded reasonable yields (~20%), except for hot water extraction (4.11%). Monosaccharide composition exhibited divergence across methods; alkaline extraction yielded a high abundance of xylose residues, whereas the three enzymatic methods demonstrated elevated galactose components. The extracted crude polysaccharides exhibited relatively low molecular weights, ranging from 5.919 × 104 Da to 3.773 × 105 Da across different extraction methods. Regarding antioxidant activities, alkaline extraction yielded the highest value in the ABTS assay, whereas enzymatically extracted polysaccharides, despite higher yield, demonstrated lower antioxidant capacity. In addition, enzymatically extracted polysaccharides exerted stronger shear thinning behavior and higher initial viscosity. Full article
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