Polysaccharides
(plant-derived)
Promoting gut health
Traditionally used as functional ingredients to control texture, bind water and stabilize
emulsions, polysaccharides are gaining in popularity as a healthy food ingredient.
These useful polysaccharides can offer health benefits as prebiotics, dietary fibre
and fat mimetics.1,2
Polysaccharides are comprised of a diverse group of carbohydrates and can be categorized based upon
origin (i.e. animal, plant); whether they are storage (i.e. starch) or structural (i.e. cellulose) polysaccharides; whether they are a non-starch polysaccharide (NSP); or whether they are soluble in water or
digested in the human gastrointestinal tract.3
Polysaccharides are made up of long-chained, straight or branched molecules of simple sugars. Chain
length, the number and type of side units and the molecule’s chemical charge influence such functional
characteristics as viscosity and the ability to bind water and form networks.4
Polysaccharides are derived primarily from plants but also come from algae, bacteria and animal sources.
Health Benefits
Gums and mucilages, storage
polysaccharides and cell walls from
plants can be used as prebiotics,
dietary fibres or fat mimetics.
Galactomannans from fenugreek,
pectic polysaccharides from apple
pomace, resistant starch from
peas and water-soluble β-glucans
from oats and barley are just some
examples.
New research into cleavage
enzymes for plant polysaccharides is leading to the development
of smaller non-digestible oligosaccharides (NGO) such as arabinogalacto- and fructo-oligosaccharides and pectic oligosaccharides.
There is potential for these novel NGOs to act as prebiotics,
stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon.5-8
Examples of Common Polysaccharides
Source
Animal
Bacteria
Plant
Sea Plants
Polysaccharide
• Chitin
Glycosaminoglycans:
• Chondroitin
• Hyaluronate
• Curdlan
• Pullulan
• Gellan
• Xanthan
• Arabinoxylans
• Oligosaccharides
• Beta-glucans
• Pectin
• Cellulose
• Starch
• Galactomannans
• Xyloglucans
• Agar
• Carrageenan
• Alginates
• Ulvan
Polysaccharides — Proposed Health Benefits
Function
Proposed Health Effect
Source
Prebiotics9-12,14,15
Enhanced resistance to invading pathogens
Improved bowel function
Reduce incidence and severity of infant diarrhea
Anti-colon and anti-prostate cancer properties
Improves bioavailability of minerals and trace elements
Osteoporosis management
Alleviation of menopausal symptoms
Beneficial for cardiovascular disease associated with metabolic syndrome
Improvement of vitamin supply
Effect on defecation and flatulence
Resistant starch (plant starches)
Galacto-oligosaccharides (beans and other
pulses)
Soluble DF
Plasma cholesterol reduction
Modulation of blood glucose levels
Reduce risk of coronary heart disease
Psyllium, oats, fruit pectin, guar gum,
locust bean gum, oat and barley β-glucans,
fenugreek gums, flaxseed gum (mucilage),
yellow mustard gum
Insoluble DF
Laxation and promotion of regularity
Wheat bran, chicory inulin, pea fibre,
flaxseed fibre
Fat Replacers1,20,21
(carbohydrate based)
Replace fat and lower calories in foods
Formulation of low fat foods to serve dietary needs
May promote feeling of satiety and regulate food intake
May help with weight loss and maintenance
Modified starches, fibres, mixtures
of carbohydrates, fruit purees and
powders, sugars and dextrins, gums (guar,
carrageenan, locust bean gum), cellulose
Resistant Starch22-25
Enhances bowel health
Controls bacterial infections
Lowers risk of colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases
Potential to manage obesity by promoting satiety
Prebiotic fibre
Cereal grains, pulses (peas, beans, lentils,
chickpeas), high amylose resistant maize,
tapioca, potato
Dietary Fibre (DF)9-13,16-19
2
Polysaccharides Promoting gut health
Fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin (chicory
root, Jerusalem artichoke and other plant
sources)
August 2008
Canadian Research Expertise
Acadia University
Wolfville, NS
• Interfacial behaviour of proteins, lipids and
carbohydrates important to food processing
(S. Roscoe)
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Cereal Research Centre
Brandon, MB
• Cereal proteins and starches and physical
factors that affect baking, pasta and noodle
making, and oat quality (N. Ames)
• Identification of wheat components beneficial
to human health and wellness; development
of wheat-based food products; evaluation of
consumer preferences to wheat-based foods
(O. Lukow)
Guelph Food Research Centre
Guelph, ON
• Natural polysaccharides: processing
technologies, structural and functional properties,
bioactivities and applications in food and nonfood systems (S. Cui)
• Starch structure modification of nutritional and
industrial applications (Q. Liu)
• Linkages between dietary fibre and human
health (S. Tosh)
• Molecular characterization of polysaccharide;
study of structure - function relationship of
polysaccharides as dietary fibre and texture
modifiers of foods; extraction, characterization
of novel polysaccharides from natural products
Saskatoon Research Centre
Saskatoon, SK
• Processing and functional characterization of
carbohydrates and proteins from renewable
agricultural material (P. Chang)
• Oilseed crops as a source of bio-diesel, lubricity
agents, bio-pesticides, natural health products,
phytochemicals (phenolics, alkaloids, sterols,)
proteins and polysaccharides (N. Westcott)
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS
• Structure function of food polymer/colloid
systems (A. Paulson)
Health Canada
Ottawa, ON
• Impact of dietary fibre and fermented material on
bacterial populations in the GI tract (S. Brooks)
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, NL
• Cereal and legume starches (R. Hoover)
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
• Isolation and physicochemical characterization
of grain carbohydrates and interaction of
grain carbohydrates with other bio-molecules
(T. Vasanthan)
• Recovery and evaluation of functional properties
and product applications of grain fractions
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON
• Novel resistant starches and evaluation of
human health benefits (M. Emes)
• Enrichment of dietary fibre into dairy products
(H.D. Goff)
• Dietary fibre and gut health (M. Fan)
Université Laval
Quebec, QC
• Development of new protein/polysaccharide
functional ingredients (S. Turgeon)
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB
• Molecular origin of functionality of plant polysaccharides (M. Izydorczyk)
• Interaction of yellow mustard polysaccharides
with plant starches (M. Eskin)
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK
• Grain and legume fractionation, processing and
characterization (B. Tyler)
Canada Research Chair in Crop Quality
• Biochemical and molecular characterization of
genetic determinants of grain quality in cereal
and pulse crops; structural and functional
genomics strategies for grain quality improvement (R. Chibbar)
(F. Temelli)
(Q. Wang)
• Cereal polysaccharides and dietary fibre
functionality and health benefits (P. Wood)
Food Research and Development Centre
St. Hyacinthe, QC
• Production and purification of exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria and other microbial
polysaccharides; extraction, isolation and
purification of natural plant-based compounds
(M.-R. Van Calsteren)
• Chemical modification of polysaccharides (chitosans) with proteins for production of emulsifiers;
structure and interactions of biopolymers in
agri-food systems (A. Bégin)
Canadian Suppliers
• Acadian SeaPlants
• Flax Council of Canada
• Best Cooking Pulses
• G.S. Dunn
Dartmouth, NS | www.acadianseaplants.com
Portage La Prairie, MB | www.bestcookingpulses.com
• BioNeutra Inc.
Edmonton, AB | www.bioneutra.ca
• Casco Inc.
Etobicoke, ON | www.casco.ca
• Ceapro Inc.
Edmonton, AB | www.ceapro.com
• Emerald Seed Products
Avonlea, SK | www.emeraldseedproducts.com
Polysaccharides Promoting gut health
Winnipeg, MB | www.flaxcouncil.ca
Hamilton, ON | www.gsdunn.com
• Natraceuticals Canada Inc.
Edmonton, AB | www.viscofiber.com
• Nutripea Inc.
Portage La Prairie, MB | www.nutripea.com
• Parrheim Foods
Saskatoon, SK | www.parrheim.com
• Sunopta Inc.
Brampton, ON | www.sunopta.com
August 2008
3
Applications
Polysaccharide gums and starches are
highly functional ingredients in snack
foods, beverages, salad dressings,
confections, cereal products and meat
products due to viscosity, water-binding
and gelling properties.26 Their role as a
prebiotic, dietary fibre or fat mimetic
offers additional opportunities for use in
formulating healthier foods.
Unique to Canada and being introduced
by Emerald Seed Products as a new food
gum is Canfen®, a polygalactomannan
derived from fenugreek seed. Canfen®
has U.S. GRAS (Generally Recognized
as Safe) status and can be used to provide
viscosity, stability and texture to foods.
Soluble beta-glucans derived from
oats and barley and produced by
Natraceuticals Canada and Ceapro meet
the requirements for the U.S. health
claim for soluble dietary fibre and coronary heart disease.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s
“Polysaccharide Research Group” at
the Guelph Food Research Centre is
taking advantage of this global interest
in plant polysaccharides. The discovery
and characterization of new functional
attributes and health benefits of novel
polysaccharides derived from mustard,
flax, pulses, oats and barley will open
new market opportunities for Canadian
specialty crops.
To learn more about Canada’s
functional food and natural
health products industry,
visit: www.agr.gc.ca
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
1341 Baseline Rd., Tower 5, 2nd Floor Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C5
E-mail: [email protected]
Best Cooking Pulses, NutriPea and
Parrheim Foods are capitalizing on the
unique functional properties of fractionated pea starches and dietary fibres
to supplement the growing interest in
healthy ingredients.
References
1. Warrand, J. 2006. Food Technol. Biotechnol.
44:355-370.
2. Cui, S.W. (Ed). 2005. Food Carbohydrates: Chemical
and Physical Properties and Applications. CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL. pp. 428.
3. Izydorczyk, M. 2005. In: Food Carbohydrates: Chemical
and Physical Properties and Applications. S.W. Cui (Ed)
Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 1-65.
4. Phillips, G.O. and P.A. Williams. 2000. Hand Books of
Hydrocolloids. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL pp. 450.
5. Mussatto, S.I. and I.M. Mancilha. 2007. Carbohydrate
Polymers 68:587-597.
6. Barreteau, H. et al., 2006. Food Technol. Biotechnol.
44:323-333.
7. Van Laere, K.M.J. et al., 2000. J. Agric. Food Chem.
48:1644-1652.
8. Yoon, S.J. et al., 2008. J. Clin. Biochem. Nutr. 42:1-7.
9. Wang, Q. et al., 2002. In: Functional Foods,
Biochemical and Processing Aspects Vol,. 2. (Eds)
J. Shi, G. Mazza and M. Le Mageur. Boca Raton, FL,
CRC Press pp. 263-309.
10. Jackson, C.L. et al., 2007. Glycobio. 17: 805-819.
11. Gibson, G.R. and M.B.Roberfroid. 1995. J. Nutr.
125:1401-1412.
12. Fedorak, R. N. and K.L. Madsen. 2004. Curr. Opin.
Gastroenterol. 20:146-155.
13. Harris, P.J. and B.G. Smith. 2006. Int. J. Food Sci.
Technol. 41(Suppl 2):129-143.
14. Sarkar, S. 2007. Nutr. Food Sci 3:168-177.
15. Bonger, A. and E.G. van den Heuvel. 2003. Food Rev.
Int. 19:397-422.
16. Wood, P.J. 2007. J.Cereal Sci. 46:230-238.
17. Topping, D. 2007. J. Cereal Sci. 46:220-229.
18. Flight, I. and P. Clifton. 2006. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr.
60:1145-11159.
19. Story, J. A. 2003. Can. J. Diet.Pract. Res. 64: insert.
20. Akoh, C.C. 1998. Fat Replacers. Food Technol.
52:47-53.
21. Cooper, K. and J. Michaelides. 2004. Functional Foods
and Nutraceuticals www.functionalingredientsmag.com
22. Charalampopoulos, D. et al., 2002. Int. J. Food Micro.
79:131-141.
23. Topping, D. 2007. J.Cereal Sci. 46:220-229.
24. Higgins, JA. 2004. J. AOAC Int. 87:761-768.
25. Kendall, C.W., et al., 2004. J. AOAC Int. 87:769-774.
26. Cui, S.W. 2001. Polysaccharide Gums from Agricultural
Products: Processing, Structures and Applications. CRC
Press, Boca Raton, FL pp. 268.
Author: C.A. Patterson, PhD, PAg
The Pathfinders Research & Management Ltd.
Reference in this fact sheet to companies or products,
or the inclusion of images containing products and
product names is not to be considered an endorsement
by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2008
AAFC NO. 10710E
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Polysaccharides Promoting gut health
August 2008