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New complex carbohydrate discovered in barley
University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a new complex carbohydrate in barley. The first of its kind to be discovered in over 30 years, the cereal polysaccharide has potential applications in food, medicine and cosmetics.
[...] The new polysaccharide is a mix of glucose, commonly found in cellulose, and xylose, which is found in dietary fibre. Based on the relative proportions of each sugar, the hybrid polysaccharide has the potential to behave as a structural component of the wall providing strength or conversely as a viscous gel.
Further research is required to understand the new polysaccharide's potential uses. Existing polysaccharides have a wide range of uses. They improve the quality of dietary fibre in porridge and are also used extensively in biomedical and cosmetic applications.
"The properties of the new polysaccharide could be manipulated to suit the desired function, increasing the range of potential uses," says Dr Little. "The genes involved in the biosynthesis of the new polysaccharide were also discovered as part of this work. The same genes can be found in all major cereal crops – not just barley. We can now use this knowledge to find ways of increasing these polysaccharides in crops, providing the possibility of generating plant material with a range of potentially different physical properties for industrial applications."
A Novel (1,4)-β-Linked Glucoxylan Is Synthesized by Members of the Cellulose Synthase-Like F Gene Family in Land Plants (open, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00568) (DX)
(Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 13 2019, @08:05AM
So proud of our Food Industry! And the Engineers that do very special things with Food. So amazing what they can do nowadays. With the Ingredients. Has anybody ever looked at Ingredients? I was eating a carton of ice cream, so many Ingredients in that one. I asked Ivanka, she said, "oh, that Ingredient comes from seaweed." They don't call it seaweed, they have a fancy name for it. And it doesn't, I assume, taste like seaweed. It was delicious. PERFECTO. Thanks to the brilliant Engineers.
Pringles, you think "oh, they slice & fry some Potatoes," right? Or possibly, bake them. WRONG. They make them from Ingredients. Many many Ingredients. And the Ingredients, it doesn't say Corn. It says Malto something. Ivanka says, it used to be Corn. Then they made it into Corn Starch. Everybody knows the Corn Starch, right? But, they take the Corn Starch, they make it into the Malto. It goes into the chips. Lots of Ingredients and each one does something very special. So that the "potato chips" are perfect. 100%. And Ivanka tells me, so many Foods that come in the package. The bag or the box. They're made from Ingredients and a lot of the Ingredients are made from Corn. Doesn't say Corn. But it's Corn. Used to be Corn. And for somebody that has allergy, it's very hard. They have a very hard time with that. Fortunately I have great genes.
Congratulations on the new Ingredient! Which, almost definitely, they're going to make from Corn. Because it pays much better than Barely. We're going to have so many incredible new Foods. And our old Foods are going to get so much better. Absolutely sensational. You'll put them in your mouth, you won't believe what you're feeling in there. And the flavor, almost unbelievable. Great job!!!