Oligosaccharide honey

Isomaltulose Isopanose glucopyranosyl-( 1— 6)-D-glucopyranose 0-a-D-Glucopyranosyl-( 1 — 6)-D-fructofuranose 0-a-D-Glucopyranosyl-(l- 4)-0-a-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 - 6)-D-glucopyranose 

The approximate proportions of these sugars in the oligosaccharide fraction (3.65%) of the honey were maltose, 29.4 kojibiose, 8.2 turanose, 4.7 isomaltose, 4.4 sucrose, 3.9 ketose band (mixture 

Trans-D-glucosylation can similarly be depicted by the following scheme  

Trans-D-glucosylation in the monosaccharide series has been known for a long time,95 but, in the oligosaccharide series, it was first described by Pigman and Blair.96,97 The ability of carbohydrases to catalyze both the hydrolysis and the synthesis of oligosaccharides is now well established. 

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Low, N. H., Brisbane, T., Bigam, G., and Spoms, P. (1988). Carbohydrate analysis of western Canadian honeys and their nectar sources to determine the origin of honey oligosaccharides. /. Agric. Food Chem. 36, 953-957. 

Honey represents the greatest source of oligosaccharides from plant material attacked by insects, and the sucrose content can range from 1 to 15% [59,60]. There are two types of honey floral and honeydew. Moral honey originates from the nectar of flowers. Honeydew is obtained by the honeybee indirectly from sweet symps excreted by various hemipterous insects feeding on tree sap. Honey oligosaccharides are presumed to arise from the action... 

Sanz ML, Polemis N, Morales V, Corzo N, Drakoularakou A, Gibson GR, et al. In vitro investigation into the potential prebiotic activity of honey oligosaccharides.JA nV Food Chem 2005 53(8) 2914—21. Leiva MHL, Guzman M. Formation of oligosaccharides during enzymic hydrolysis of milk whey permeates. Process Biochem 1995 30(8) 757-62. 

In analyses of honey, the wide range of oligosaccharides encountered has been separated by gas-liquid chromatography.314,315 Similar mixtures, including a series of fructoglucans, have been isolated from onion bulbs.322... 

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, in its Draft Provisional Standard34 (following definition and description, and subsidiary definitions and designations) has laid down certain compositional criteria. It is obvious that all definitions of honey so far discussed deal with two chemically and physically distinct commodities namely, nectar honey and honeydew honey. A comparison between the two shows that honeydew honey is lower in D-fructose and D-glucose and higher in pH, oligosaccharides, acidic components, ash, and nitrogen than nectar honey. 

As regards the occurrence of /3-D-linked disaccharides in the absence of a /3-D-linked substrate, one is tempted to conclude that these oligosaccharides are synthesized by the enzymic reversion of D-glucose by a /3-D-glucosidase. As White and Maher100 have found that their honey-invertase preparation had no /3-D-glucosidase activity, it would appear that these sugars are carried into the hive as constituents of nectar. 

D-Fructose (Fru), a ketose that is a close structural and metabolic relative of D-glucose. It occurs in honey and fruit juices in free form, in the disaccharide sucrose (table sugar) as a 5-membered furanose ring, and in other oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. 

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