Beta glucans are a group of polysaccharides. These biological polymers are components of the cell wall of certain bacteria and fungi and certain grains. Beta glucans have significantly different physicochemical properties depending on their source. Studies in recent years have focused on the health effects of beta-glucans. These molecules may reduce the risk of heart and coronary disease and may also exhibit anti-carcinogenic activity. Beta-glucans may indeed inhibit tumorigenesis due to their protective effects against potent genotoxic carcinogens.
The percent beta-glucan value is calculated by dividing the amount of glucose measured in each sample by the amount of powder. An enzymatic method for measuring beta-glucan content can be applied in various matrices.
There are a number of health benefits attributed to the consumption of beta-glucans. Published research has shown that certain beta-glucans can increase the ability of white blood cells to attack tumor cells through a defined mechanism of action, reduce symptoms of respiratory infections and protect mammals against infectious diseases.
To evaluate the quality of products containing beta-glucan, it is important to quantitatively analyze the beta-glucan content in a purified powder extract or in a product formulated as an active ingredient. Several methods have been proposed to measure beta-glucan content. Some rely on acid hydrolysis followed by determination of the total glucose released. The drawback of this approach is that other glucose polymers present in the sample matrix can also release glucose, resulting in an erroneous measurement. Another method uses dissolving the glucan in dimethyl sulfoxide and measuring it against an internal standard by spectroscopy to give the beta-glucan content on a dry weight basis. This method requires the sample to be freely soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide and free of any interfering substances. An enzymatic method using acidic hydrolysis of beta-glucan followed by enzymatic digestion into glucose is also proposed. However, acid hydrolysis releases glucose from any glucose-containing polysaccharide present, particularly glycogen. This then requires a separate glycogen determination by an amylase digestion arm, so that the glycogen content can be subtracted from the total glucose amount.
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