Umar Bacha

Nutraceutical, Anti-Inflammatory, and Immune Modulatory Effects of β-Glucan Isolated from Yeast

β-Glucan is a dietary fibre, found in many natural sources, and controls chronic metabolic diseases effectively. However, β-glucan from the yeast has rarely been investigated. Objectively, conditions were optimized to isolate β-glucan from the yeast (max. 66% yield); those optimized conditions included 1.0 M NaOH, pH 7.0, and 90°C. The purity and identity of the isolated β-glucan were characterized through FT-IR, SEM, DSC, and physicofunctional properties. The obtained results from DSC revealed highly stable β-glucan (m.p., 125°C) with antioxidant activity (TAC value 0.240 ± 0.0021 µg/mg, H2O2 scavenging 38%), which has promising bile acid binding 40.463% and glucose control (in vitro). In line with these results, we evaluated the in vivo anti-inflammatory potential, that is, myeloperoxidase activity and reduction in MDA and NO; protective effect on proteins and keeping viscosity within normal range exhibited improvement. Also, the in vivo cholesterol binding and reduction in the skin thickness by β-glucan were highly encouraging. Finally, our results confirmed that yeast β-glucan is effective against some of the inflammatory and oxidative stress markers studied in this investigation. In general, the effect of 4%  β-glucan was more noticeable versus 2%  β-glucan. Therefore, our results support the utilization of β-glucan as a novel, economically cheap, and functional food ingredient.

Influence of Yeast β-Glucan on Cookies Sensory Characteristics and Bioactivities

β-Glucan is biologically active polysaccharide, ubiquitously found in many grains, bacteria, and fungi and much yeast. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of substituting wheat flour by 1, 2, and 4% yeast isolated β-glucan in cookies on the sensory acceptance, antioxidants, oxidative stability, and quality evaluation which were investigated. According to the results, cookies supplemented at 2% yeast β-glucan were proved satisfactory on sensory quality perspective. During the storage study it was found that cookies made with 2 and 4% β-glucan have effectively ( ) kept the peroxide value (PV) within acceptable range, demonstrating the promising role of β-glucan in deterring oxidative. It is further noted that 2 or 4% β-glucan incorporated cookies assimilated highest absorption spectra, suggesting the retardation in freshness losses, with having minimum microbial loads, showing microbiological safety. β-Glucan fortification in foods is technologically and economically feasible, suggesting that a significant prospect of β-glucan as low-cost food ingredient in formulating cookies at 2% offers exciting new use of β-glucan of yeast origin.

Dietary management of inflammatory diseases.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are inflammatory diseases which are considered to be either associated with the genetic make-up of the individual or due to defective epithelial barrier. In the latter case, environment becomes favorable for proliferation of microorganisms [1] which then causes inflammation. The small intestine expresses gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) to encounter pathogen [2] which (lymph nodes and payer’s patches etc.,) changes with changing in colonization of microbes [3]. There are trillion of bacteria on the human gut and this microbiota population depends on nutritional status of the subjects. A healthy nutrition thus promote healthy microflora and vice versa. In some stressful condition (chemotherapy or poor nutrition) the balance in microbiota disturbed. This leads to invasive microbes to invade the gut and intestine. Intestinal cells possess conserve detecting system of bacterial antigens. This leads to progression and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. The GALT cells (macrophages, dendritic cells) sense signal from molecules, MHCI, II & TLRs [4]. It would be imperative to characterize diet that promotes growth of microbes which expresses lipopolysaccharides, peptidoglycan etc., because microbes with the mentioned antigens causes inflammation.