A Concise Review on the Molecular Structure and Function Relationship of β-Glucan

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 hypocho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2019-08, Vol.20 (16), p.4032
Main Authors: Du, Bin, Meenu, Maninder, Liu, Hongzhi, Xu, Baojun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addition polymerization
Barley
beta-Glucans - chemistry
Cereals
Chromatography
Cosmetics
Food Additives - chemistry
Food industry
Food products
Fourier transforms
functional properties
Gelation
Glucan
Glucose
Light scattering
Molecular structure
Molecular weight
Pharmaceutic Aids - chemistry
Photon correlation spectroscopy
Polymers
Purification
Researchers
Review
Rheology
Scattering
Sensors
Side reactions
Slurries
solubility
Structure-function relationships
Ultrasonic processing
Ultrasonic testing
Viscosity
Viscosity measurement
Yeast
β-Glucan
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms20164032