Chemistry Biochemistry And Biology Of 1 3 Beta Glucans And Related Polysaccharides

Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biology of 1-3 Beta Glucans and Related Polysaccharides presents a comprehensive, systematic and authoritative survey of information about a family of chemically related, but functionally diverse, naturally occurring polysaccharides--the (1-3)-glucans. International contributors describe the chemical and physicochemical properties of these glucans and their derivatives and the molecular biological and structural aspects of the enzymes involved in their formation and breakdown. A detailed analysis of their physiological roles in the various biological situations in which they are found will be provided. Additionally, evolutionary relationships among the family of these glucans will be described. Topics of medical relevance include detailing the glucans' interactions with the immune system and research for cancer therapy applications Web resource links allow scientists to explore additional beta glucan research Separate indexes divided into Species and Subject for enhanced searchability

Despite of the efforts of pharmaceutical researchers to find new medicaments, nature offers many substances with healing properties—beta-glucans belong to this group of compounds. The second volume of the e-book series, Biology and Chemistry of Beta-Glucan, provides new knowledge about these important polysaccharides. In order to understand the role of beta-glucans, it is necessary to control the purity and to determine their composition and structure. This volume presents modern chemical and separation methods which are applied in structural analysis of glucans. As a result of structural analyses, it can be concluded that beta-glucans of different origin vary in chain length, number and types of branching. The book further discusses the biological effects of tailored oligomers and synthetic beta-glucans, including innovative use of enzymatic processes in the synthesis of these compounds. This volume also discusses a hypothesis of beta-glucans’ increasing impact on the photodynamic therapy. In spite of many scientific papers describing the positive role of beta-glucans in protection against diseases, certain epidemiological data suggest that specific illnesses can be related to beta-glucan exposure. The fact of whether or not beta-glucan is an accompanying substance of these biologically active agents is also questioned. Biology and Chemistry of Beta-Glucan: Volume 2 focuses on the strictly scientific basis on the effects of beta-glucan on human health as well as other possibilities of beta-glucan application, such as protection of aquaculture against diseases.

This text provides comprehensive coverage of fibers used in food formulations, starting with the understanding of their basic chemical structure and how they are present and organized in the cell wall structure, their physicochemical and functional properties, their impact on the digestive process and their role and preventive action against various chronic diseases including colon cancer. The book focuses on traditional and new fiber rich sources, incorporating an integrated approach in terms of the technological and engineering processes used to obtain and incorporate them in traditional foods, plus their characterization, extraction and modification. The study of processing conditions including the chemical, physical and enzymatic processes of fiber extraction and modification are also covered, including traditional and emerging processing technologies, plus the application of fibers in the development of new products and processes. Science and Technology of Fibers in Food Systems integrates knowledge of fibers from their basic structural and property aspects and the applications of these ingredients to extraction process analysis, modification and feasibility for use at the industry level. The chapters incorporate the physiological aspects related to the consumption of fiber for prevention of serious diseases.

Polysaccharides in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Applications presents new and specific aspects in the field of polysaccharides and their derivatives recommended for use in medicine and pharmacy. At the same time the aspects developed in this book will be useful to designing new systems for drugs delivery, immunomodulation, and new materials based on polysaccharides isolated from different sources and their derivatives.

The concept of a circular economy relies on waste reduction, valorization, and recycling. Global trends for “green” synthesis of chemicals have positioned the field of enzyme technology and biocatalysis (multi-enzymes and whole-cells) as an alternative for the synthesis of more social- and environmentally-responsible bio-based chemicals. Recent advances in synthetic biology, computational tools, and metabolic engineering have supported the discovery of new enzymes and the rational design of whole-cell biocatalysts. In this book, we highlight these current advances in the field of biocatalysis, with special emphasis on novel enzymes and whole-cell biocatalysts for applications in several industrial biotechnological applications.

The diverse segments of the snack industries that generate close to $520 billion of annual sales are adapting to new consumer ́s expectations, especially in terms of convinience, flavor, shelf life, and nutritional and health claims. Snack Foods: Processing, Innovation, and Nutritional Aspects was conceptualized to thoroughly cover practical and scientific aspects related to the chemistry, technology, processing, functionality, quality control, analysis, and nutrition and health implications of the wide array of snacks derived from grains, fruits/vegetables, milk and meat/poultry/seafood. This book focuses on novel topics influencing food product development like innovation, new emerging technologies and the manufacturing of nutritious and health-promoting snacks with a high processing efficiency. The up-to-date chapters provide technical reviews emphasising flavored salty snacks commonly used as finger foods, including popcorn, wheat-based products (crispbreads, pretzels, crackers), lime-cooked maize snacks (tortilla chips and corn chips), extruded items (expanded and half products or pellets), potato chips, peanuts, almonds, tree nuts, and products derived from fruits/vegetables, milk, animal and marine sources. Key Features: Describes traditional and novel processes and unit operatios used for the industrial production of plant and animal-based snacks. Depicts major processes employed for the industrial production of raw materials, oils, flavorings and packaging materials used in snack food operations. Contains relevant and updated information about quality control and nutritional attributes and health implications of snack foods. Includes simple to understand flowcharts, relevant information in tables and recent innovations and trends. Divided into four sections, Snack Foods aims to understand the role of the major unit operations used to process snacks like thermal processes including deep-fat frying, seasoning, packaging and the emerging 3-D printing technology. Moreover, the book covers the processing and characteristics of the most relevant raw materials used in snack operations like cereal-based refined grits, starches and flours, followed by chapters for oils, seasoning formulations and packaging materials. The third and most extensive part of the book is comprised of several chapters which describe the manufacturing and quality control of snacks mentioned above. The fourth section is comprised of two chapters related to the nutritional and nutraceutical and health-promoting properties of all classes of snacks discussed herein.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an acellular three-dimensional network composed of proteins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans and exopolysaccharides. It primarily serves as a structural component in the tissues and organs of plants and animals, or forms biofilms in which bacterial cells are embedded. ECMs are highly dynamic structures that undergo continuous remodeling, and disruptions are frequently the result of pathological processes associated with severe diseases such as arteriosclerosis, neurodegenerative illness or cancer. In turn, bacterial biofilms are a source of concern for human health, as they are associated with resistance to antibiotics. Although exopolysaccharides are crucial for ECM formation and function, they have received considerably little attention to date. The respective chapters of this book comprehensively address such issues, and provide reviews on the structural, biochemical, molecular and biophysical properties of exopolysaccharides. These components are abundantly produced by virtually all taxa including bacteria, algae, plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. They include long unbranched homopolymers (cellulose, chitin/chitosan), linear copolymers (alginate, agarose), peptoglycans such as murein, heteropolymers like a variety of glycosaminoglycans (hyaluronan, dermatan, keratin, heparin, Pel), and branched heteropolymers such as pectin and hemicellulose. A separate chapter is dedicated to modern industrial and biomedical applications of exopolysaccharides and polysaccharide-based biocomposites. Their unique chemical, physical and mechanical properties have attracted considerable interest, inspired basic and applied research, and have already been harnessed to form structural biocomposite hybrids for tailor-made applications in regenerative medicine, bioengineering and biosensor design. Given its scope, this book provides a substantial source of basic and applied information for a wide range of scientists, as well as valuable textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

This volume reviews various facets of Agrobacterium biology, from modern aspects of taxonomy and bacterial ecology to pathogenesis, bacterial cell biology, plant and fungal transformation, natural transgenics, and biotechnology. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the most extensively utilized platform for generating transgenic plants, but modern biotechnology applications derive from more than 40 years of intensive basic scientific research. Many of the biological principles established by this research have served as models for other bacteria, including human and animal pathogens. Written by leading experts and highlighting recent advances, this volume serves both as an introduction to Agrobacterium biology for students as well as a more comprehensive text for research scientists.