Abstract
Cereal β-glucan is a type of valuable dietary fiber that mainly exists in the aleurone, subaleurone, and endosperm of some cereal grains. β-Glucan is acknowledged as a functional food ingredient owing to its multiple health benefits, including the prevention of diabetes, reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease, antitumor effects, antioxidant activities, and immunostimulation. It is well documented that cellulose synthase-like CslF/H/J genes encode synthases responsible for β-glucan biosynthesis in cereal grains. Recently, β-glucan has been widely applied as an emulsion stabilizer, thickening agent, fat substitute, and bioactive ingredient in the food industry due to its water solubility, viscosity, gelation property, and health benefits. Therefore, the present paper aims to review the molecular characteristics, synthase gene family, and food application of cereal β-glucan in recent years.
Highlights
Food Application of Cereal β-GlucanΒ-glucan has been widely applied as an emulsion stabilizer, thickening agent, fat substitute, and bioactive ingredient in the food industry due to its water solubility, viscosity, gelation property, and health benefits [1, 3, 59]
Introduction β-Glucan is a longchain polysaccharide consisting of D-glucose monomers linked via β-glycosidic bonds
It is a type of valuable dietary fiber that is widely present in cereals, mushrooms, seaweeds, yeast, and some bacteria [1, 2]. e glycosidic linkages in cereal β-glucan are a combination of β-1, 3 and β-1, 4 glycosidic linkages; it is called (1, 3; 1, 4)-β-glucan
Summary
Β-glucan has been widely applied as an emulsion stabilizer, thickening agent, fat substitute, and bioactive ingredient in the food industry due to its water solubility, viscosity, gelation property, and health benefits [1, 3, 59]. Some of these functional products are favored by consumers owing to their improved quality together with low cholesterol and hypoglycemia properties [60,61,62]. Oat β-glucan (OG) and marine collagen peptide (MCP) mixed gel (OG/MCP ratio 10 : 1) in low-fat sausage (50% fat reduced) has significantly increased the springiness and chewing, while the taste and overall palatability of such sausage have been comparable with those of the control [85]
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