Rheological properties and structural characteristics of arabinoxylan hydrogels prepared from three wheat bran sources

Abstract

Arabinoxylan (AX) could form functional hydrogels through ferulic acid oxidative cross-linking reaction. In this study, we compared the molecular characteristics and gelation capacity of three wheat bran arabinoxylans (AX9023, AX58 and AX27) isolated from the brans of Zheng 9023, Zhou 27 and Aikang 58 wheat cultivars, respectively. Results showed that AX9023 with high Mw (1.37 × 106 Da) and high ferulic acid content (7.39 μg/mg) could form cross-linking hydrogels with a more elastic texture. Both sugar composition and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed a typical arabinoxylan feature. The laccase catalyzed arabinoxylan hydrogels were obtained from AX9023, AX58 and AX27 at the concentration of 2%, 3% and 5% (w/v), respectively. The gelation time to produce AX9023 hydrogel was shortened by an increasing concentration (from 2% to 5%) of wheat bran arabinoxylan. AX9023 hydrogel displayed a honeycomb three-dimensional network structure. Based on these results, AX9023 hydrogels presented excellent gelation properties (e.g., rheological properties, microstructural properties) and had a more stable structure, indicating its great potential for the entrapment of biomolecules to use as a nutrient-delivery vehicle.