Wheat xylan

AGX are also the dominant hemicelluloses in the cell walls of hgnified supporting tissues of grasses and cereals. They were isolated from sisal, corncobs and the straw from various wheat species [4]. A more recent study on corncob xylans [30] showed the presence of a hnear, water-insoluble polymer... 

The substitution pattern of arabinosyl side chains in AX from cereal flours and bran, based on the structural analysis of ohgomer fragments produced by xylan-degrading enzymes of known mode of action, was described by several authors [60-63], and various structural models were created [39,60]. fii a recent study [64] on the fine structure of wheat flour AX, a method was... 

Potential resources of xylans are by-products produced in forestry and the pulp and paper industries (forest chips, wood meal and shavings), where GX and AGX comprise 25-35% of the biomass as well as annual crops (straw, stalks, husk, hulls, bran, etc.), which consist of 25-50% AX, AGX, GAX, and CHX [4]. New results were reported for xylans isolated from flax fiber [16,68], abaca fiber [69], wheat straw [70,71], sugar beet pulp [21,72], sugarcane bagasse [73], rice straw [74], wheat bran [35,75], and jute bast fiber [18]. Recently, about 39% hemicelluloses were extracted from vetiver grasses [76]. 

Interactions with xanthan were investigated for some GAX fractions of wheat bran [109]. Whereas, for lowly substituted GaMs a synergy in viscosity was observed at low total polymer concentrations, yielding a maximum of the relative viscosity at nearly equal proportions of both polysaccharides [124], the xanthan/xylan mixtures at the same experimental conditions showed no synergy. The observed decrease in the relative viscosity values upon addition of the xylan indicates that a certain interaction with xanthan takes place, but that it leads to a contraction in the hydrodynamic volume. The authors suggested that structural and conformational differences between GaM and GAX might be the reason for this observation. 

Kayserilioglu, B. S., Bakir, U., Yilmaz, L. Akkas, N. (2003). Use of xylan, an agricultural by-product, in wheat gluten based biodegradable films mechanical, solubility and water vapor transfer rate properties. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 87, 3, (May 2003), pp. (239-246), ISSN 0960-8524... 

Few further measurements have been reported. The essentially unbranched structure of a xylan from wheat straw232 and of hemicellulose-A233... 

Aqueous alkaline extraction of wood was employed by Poumarede and Figuier48 in 1846 for the removal of a substance called wood gum. Similar very crude xylan or hemicellulose preparations were made by other workers of the early period. Extractions were made not only from wood sawdust, but from annual plant materials such as wheat straw, corn cob, etc.49-66... 

Other workers140 have also examined the products derived by hydrolysis of periodate-oxidized xylan. Both wheat straw and com cob xylan, after oxidation and hydrolysis, yield small amounts of L-arabinose and D-xylose. These sugars are obtained even after the xylans have been subjected to extended periods of oxidation. It is concluded that the D-xylose constituted branch points in the xylan. Likewise, the L-arabi-nose molecules must not have been terminal units in a xylan chain but must have been either interior units in the xylan molecule or have constituted an araban-like polysaccharide which is in combination or admixture with the xylan polysaccharide. 

Unfortunately, pure xylan is an expensive carbon source for commercial-scale xylanase production. Therefore, several groups have tried to develop xylanase production on cheaper xylan-rich materials. The best candidates for the purpose appear to be water-soluble hemicellulose from steam-treated wood (63,69) and residues of annual plants like wheat bran (70). 

The side-chain L-arabinosyl groups of wheat-flour L-arabino-D-xylan are almost completely split off by the purified a-L-arabinofuranosidase11 from A. niger Kl. Similar results were reported36 for an enzyme preparation from Pectinol R-10. In contrast, the a-L-arabinofuranosidase from Pectinol 59-L hydrolyzes only 18% of the L-arabinosidic linkages of wheat L-arabino-D-xylan.37... 

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