Food application

-Preparation of spent brewer’s yeast ß-glucans for potential applications in the food industry . (For more detail please visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0950-5423)

Preparation of spent brewer’s yeast ß-glucans for potential applications in the food industry

Saowanee Thammakiti, Manop Suphantharika, Thanaporn Phaesuwan & Cornel Verduyn

Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama 6 Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

ABSTRACT

A preparation of ß -glucan, obtained from spent brewer’s yeast, was evaluated for potential food applications. This material was autolysed and the cell walls that were obtained were homogenized, extracted firstly with alkali, then with acid, and then spray dried. Effects of the homogenization on the chemical composition, rheological properties and functional properties of ß -glucan were investigated. Homogenized cell walls exhibited higher ß -glucan content and apparent viscosity than those which had not been homogenized because of fragmentation of the cell walls. When compared with commercial ß -glucan from baker’s yeast, it was found that the b -glucan obtained from this study had higher apparent viscosity, water-holding capacity and emulsion stabilizing capacity, but very similar oilbinding capacity. These findings suggest that b -glucan obtained from brewer’s yeast can be used in food products as a thickening, water-holding, or oil-binding agent and emulsifying stabilizer.

Keywords: Apparent viscosity, baker’s yeast, chemical composition, emulsion stabilizing capacity, oil binding capacity, water holding capacity.

Credited by:
© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.                                             International Journal of Food Science and Technology 39 (2004), 21–29

Cholesterol reduction

-Plasma lipid changes after supplementation with ß-glucan fiber from yeast. (For more detail please visit http://www.ajcn.org/ )

Pasma llipid changes after supplementation with ß-glucan fiber from yeast

Robert Nicolosi, Stacey J Bell, Bruce R Bistrian, Isaac Greenberg, R Armour Forse and George L Blackburn

From the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Control, University of Mas-sachusetts–Lowell; Research and Development, Medical Foods, Inc, Cambridge, MA; the Department of Psychiatry and the Nutrition and Infection Laboratory, Harvard Medical School; the Centers for the Study of Nutrition and Medicine and for Nutritional Research, and Clowes Surgical Metabolism Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

Background: Dietary fiber has been shown to improve blood lipids.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect on serum lipids of a yeast-derived ß-glucan fiber in 15 free-living, obese, hypercholesterolemic men.

Design: After a 3-wk period in which subjects ate their usual diet, 15 g fiber/d was added to the diet for 8 wk and then stopped for 4 wk. Plasma lipids were measured weekly during baseline and at week 7 and 8 of fiber consumption, and again at week 12.

Results: Compared with baseline, fiber consumption significantly reduced plasma total cholesterol (by 8% at week 7 and 6% at week 8; P < 0.05 using Bonferroni correction); week 12 values did not differ from baseline. No significant differences were noted between baseline LDL cholesterol and values at weeks 7, 8, or 12 when comparing individual groups by using Bonferroni correction, even though the overall one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was highly significant (P < 0.001). LDL-cholesterol concentrations did decline by 8% at week 8 compared with baseline. There was a significant effect of diet on plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.005 by one-way ANOVA with repeated measures). However, a group difference was observed only between baseline and week 12 (16% increase; P < 0.05 by Bonferroni correction). Triacylglycerol concentrations did not change.

Conclusions: The yeast-derived ß-glucan fiber significantly lowered total cholesterol concentrations and was well tolerated; HDL-cholesterol concentrations rose, but only 4 wk after the fiber was stopped.

Keywords: ß -glucan, dietary fiber, oat fiber, serum cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol

Credited by:
© 1999 American Society for Clinical Nutrition Am J Clin Nutr (70)1999, 208–212

Wound treatment

-Effectiveness of Beta-Glucan Collagen for Treatment of Partial-Thickness Burns in Children. (For more detail please visit http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/jpedsurg)

Effectiveness of Beta-Glucan Collagen for Treatment of Partial-Thickness Burns in Children

Stephen J. Delatte, Jill Evans, Andre´ Hebra, William Adamson, H. Biemann Othersen, and Edward P. Tagge

Charleston, South Carolina

Background/Purpose: Beta glucan collagen matrix (BGC), which combines the carbohydrate beta-glucan with collagen, has been used as a temporary coverage for adult partial thickness burns with reported good results. Observed advantages of BGC coverage include reduction of pain, improved healing, and better scar appearance. Potentially even more important in children is the elimination of painful daily dressing changes to the burned epithelial surface, as well as decreased fluid loss. This report details the authors’ 2-year experience with BGC in a pediatric burn center.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of 225 consecutive pediatric patients treated at our institution between 1997 and 1999 identified 43 patients (19%) with suspected partial thickness burns treated with BGC as the primary wound dressing. BGC was applied to a debrided burn wound and secured with steri-strips, kerlix, and an ace wrap. After 24 hours, adherence of the BGC was confirmed and then left open to air.

Results: The most common cause of burn injury was scald (61%), followed by flame (37%), and contact (2%). The average age of patients was 5.5 years (range, 6 weeks to 16 years) and mean percent total body surface area burned was 9.3% (1% to 35%). Thirty-four patients (79%) had the BGC remain intact while the wound healed underneath, with excellent cosmetic results, minimal analgesic requirements, and no need for repetitive dressing changes. Nine patients (21%) had the BGC removed before wound healing: 6 patients lost the BGC because of progression of the burn to full thickness, 2 had BGC nonadherence over a joint, and 1 had an unexplained nonadherence.

Conclusions: Partial-thickness burns in children can be effectively treated with BGC with good results, even in infants and toddlers. BGC markedly simplifies wound care for the patient and family and seems to significantly decrease postinjury pain.

Keywords: Partial thickness burns, beta glucan collagen, pediatric burns.

Credited by:
© 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company. Journal of Pediatric Surgery 36 (2001), 113-118