Water-soluble polysaccharides and hemicelluloses from almond gum: Functional and prebiotic properties

This paper describes the extraction of polysaccharides (AGP) and hemicelluloses (AGH) from almond gum by hot water and alkaline solution, respectively. Structural and functional properties of the extracted polymers were then determined. For this purpose, infrared spectroscopy was first used to characterize functional groups of both polymers. The molecular weights of AGP and AGH were then determined using high performance size exclusion chromatography, resulting in 5.72 × 106 g/mol and 5.39 × 106 g/mol, respectively. Monosaccharide composition of both polymers was assessed using gas chromatography. The analysis of the functional properties showed that AGP and AGH had high water-holding (11.36 g/g and 6.3 g/g, respectively) and fat-binding (5.35 g/g and 2.7 g/g, respectively) capacities, with good emulsion properties. The prebiotic properties of AGP and AGH were then evaluated using in vitro fermentation by Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Both polymers showed suitability for in vitro fermentation, suggesting thus their prebiotic nature. The obtained results demonstrated the promising potential of AGP and AGH for different applications in food industry.