We describe preparations of plant cell walls and polysaccharides obtained from plant cell walls that are added to food products for two purposes: as modifiers of food texture and/or as dietary fibres with potential health benefits. Although a number of different types of plant cell walls occur, only some are presently exploited. Commercial ‘fibre preparations’ range from those containing mostly...

Atomic force microscopy has been used to characterise populations of extracted water-soluble wheat endosperm arabinoxylans. The adsorbed molecules are extended structures with an estimated Kuhn statistical segment length of 128 nm, suggesting that they adopt an ordered helical structure. However, estimates of the molecular weight distribution, coupled with size exclusion data, suggest that, in ...

Cell walls are complex structures surrounding plant cells with a composition that varies among species and even within a species between organs, cell types and development stages. For years, cell walls in wheat grains were described as simple walls consisting mostly of arabinoxylans and mixed-linked beta glucans. Proteomic and transcriptomic studies identified enzyme families involved in the sy...

The laccase induced gelation of maize bran arabinoxylans at 2.5% (w/v) in the presence of insulin or beta-lactoglobulin at 0.1% (w/v) was investigated. Insulin and beta-lacto-globulin did not modify either the gel elasticity (9 Pa) or the cross-links content (0.03 and 0.015 microg di- and triferulic acids/mg arabinoxylan, respectively). The protein release capability of the gel was also investi...

The aim of this study is to develop a new technology for making traditional Lithuanian non-alcoholic beverage kvass from fermented cereals by extending the spectrum of raw materials (extruded rye) and applying new biotechnological resources (xylanolytic enzymes and lactic acid bacteria (LAB)) to improve its functional properties. Arabinoxylans in extruded rye were very efficiently hydrolysed in...

Xylan is the second most abundant polysaccharide and a major component of plant cell wall. Cereal xylans contain large quantities of L-arabinose and are therefore, often referred to as arabinoxylans. Xylanases are hydrolytic enzymes, which randomly cleave the b-1,4 backbone of this complex plant cell wall polysaccharide. Different species of Aspergillus and Trichoderma produce these enzymes. Xy...