ULTRASOUND-ASSISTED AND ENZYMATIC-BASED METHOD FOR ISOLATION OF β-GLUCANS FROM OAT BRAN

β-Glucans are a group of non-starchy polysaccharides, or (1,3),(1,4)-β-D-glucans, that can be found in the cell walls of several species of bacteria, algae, lichens, fungi, and cereal grains. These carbohydrates are extensively used in food industry, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, therefore optimization of the extraction and isolation of β-glucans from grain sources has an especial importance in various fields of biotechnology, drug design, food science and technology. The aim of the study was to develop an optimized technological scheme for isolation of β-glucans from oat bran based on ultrasonic and enzymatic processing of raw material. Materials and methods. β-Glucans were isolated from grinded oat cereals during multi-stage process, which includes extraction of grain fats, hydrobarothermic processing, ultrasonification, enzymatic hydrolysis of concomitant starch and proteins, precipitation of β-glucan fraction by ethanol, centrifugation, and dry-freezing. Yield of β-glucans from raw material and its concentration in the final product were determined after hydrolysis by sulfuric acid or enzymatic cleavage by endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase. Results. As shown by acidic hydrolysis of the final product, the yield of β-glucans was 10.8 ± 0.23% and concentration was 79.6 ± 3.89%, while enzymatic hydrolysis gave 8.7 ± 0.82% and 65.1 ± 4.72%, respectively. Thus, the use of hydrobarothermic and ultrasound pre-treatment of raw material in combination with proteolytic digestion of ballast lipids and proteins allowed producing oat β-glucans in amounts comparable with those in case of acid- or alkali-based procedures. Conclusions. The described technological scheme of β-glucan isolation from oat bran based on sequential hydrobarothermic processing, ultrasonification, and enzymatic removing starch and proteins can be widely used for routine β-glucan production for various purposes in food technology, pharmacological industry, and medicine.