Abstract
β-glucan is a non-starch soluble polysaccharide widely present in yeast, mushrooms, bacteria, algae, barley, and oat. β-Glucan is regarded as a functional food ingredient due to its various health benefits. The high molecular weight (Mw) and high viscosity of β-glucan are responsible for its hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic properties. Thus, β-glucan is also used in the food industry for the production of functional food products. The inherent gel-forming property and high viscosity of β-glucan lead to the production of low-fat foods with improved textural properties. Various studies have reported the relationship between the molecular structure of β-glucan and its functionality. The structural characteristics of β-glucan, including specific glycosidic linkages, monosaccharide compositions, Mw, and chain conformation, were reported to affect its physiochemical and biological properties. Researchers have also reported some chemical, physical, and enzymatic treatments can successfully alter the molecular structure and functionalities of β-glucan. This review article attempts to review the available literature on the relationship of the molecular structure of β-glucan with its functionalities, and future perspectives in this area.
Highlights
The results showed that the addition of β-glucan at the maximum limit for equivalent batter firmness, the muffins in the low-molecular weight (Mw) (57,000 g/mol) treatment group was firmer and less springy than the high-Mw (560,000 g/mol) group
The available literature revealed that the functionality of β-glucan is dependent on its Mw, conformation, linkage-type, 1 → 3, 1 → 6 linkage ratio, length, number, and chemical or physical modification
The triple helix of polysaccharide was dissociated to the single helix in response to physical and chemical treatments due to the breakage of inter and intramolecular hydrogen bonds that, in turn, lead to a reduction in its Mw, increase in solubility, and decrease in the viscosity
Summary
The molecular weight (Mw) of β-glucan was reported to be in the range of 21–1100 × 103, 31–2700 × 103, 65–3100 × 103, 209–487 × 103 g/mol in the case of rye, barley, oat, and wheat, respectively [24]. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is regarded as the most convenient method for the determination of the molecular weight of lentinan, its distribution, and conformational parameters without standard samples by employing on-line detection of concentration using refractometer and multi-angle laser light scattering (SEC–MALLS) [17]. Researchers have attempted to determine the molecular weight and its distribution in Schizophyllan by employing SEC coupled with a refractive index (RI) detector and the MALLS method [16]. The molecular size and distribution of β-glucan from oat and cereals, (1 → 3, 1 → 4)-β-glucan from barley, hydrolyzed β-glucan extracts, and β-glucan from muffins were determined by employing a high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) [26,27,28,29,30,31]. It was mentioned that the Mw of β-glucan is dependent on the solvents, reaction conditions, sample history, detectors, and standard compounds [24,37]
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