Extraction of polysaccharides from plant resources and their use as food functional ingrediesnts

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K05919
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38050:Food sciences-related
• Research Institution: Ibaraki University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Akihiro 茨城大学, 農学部, 教授 (00803735)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 食品 / 植物資源 / 多糖類 / 安定剤 / 乳化剤 / 構造解析 / 未利用資源 / 品質評価

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we focused on beans as the agricultural plant resources. The fiber from which the nutrients were already separated was used as the raw material. We found that high-molecular-mass polysaccharides can be efficiently extracted with hot water under weakly alkaline conditions. The legume polysaccharides analyzed by SPM showed a multi-branched structure regardless of the type of legume. Polysaccharides derived from lentils, kidney beans, and peas had functions as dispersion stabilizers for acidified milk beverages. We discovered that the decomposition of methyl ester group of galacturonic acid of composing sugars improves the property of protein particle stabilization. Through 3 years research, we have achieved a certain level of results in the initially planned (1) advanced use of unused food resources, (2) correlation analysis between the molecular structure and functionality of polysaccharides, and (3) creation of new functional ingredients useful for the processed foods.

Free Research Field

食品科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、農産資源から食素材を製造する過程で副生する未利用資源を原料として多糖類機能剤を創出するプロセスが確立される。また、未利用資源を単に食資源として活用するに留まらず、少量で食品の物性と品質保持に有効な高付加価値素材を創出することで、食資源のアップサイクルに貢献する。また、多糖類機能剤の構造、物性、食品における機能性に関するデータベースを構築することで、「多糖類の構造」と「食品での用途」が直結となり、これまで長い間「職人技」であった多糖類を用いた食品の設計が、科学的根拠に基づいて実践できるようになる。