Journal article

Mucoadhesive functionality of cell wall structures from fruits and grains: Electrostatic and polymer network interactions mediated by soluble dietary polysaccharides

OW Meldrum, GE Yakubov, G Gartaula, MA McGuckin, MJ Gidley

Scientific Reports | NATURE PORTFOLIO | Published : 2017

Abstract

We demonstrate the enhancement of intestinal mucin (Muc2) binding to plant cell wall structures from fruit (parenchymal apple tissue) and grain (wheat endosperm) mediated by soluble dietary fibers embedded within cellulose networks. Mucin binding occurs through two distinct mechanisms; for pectin polysaccharides characteristic of fruits and vegetables, it is governed by molecular mucoadhesive interactions, while for neutral polysaccharides, arabinoxylan and β-glucan characteristic of cereal grains, the interaction stems from the properties of their polymer network. Based on microrheological and microscopic measurements, we show that neutral dietary fiber polysaccharides do not adhere to inte..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution from the University of Queensland piggery. This work was performed in part at the Queensland Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-Q), a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano- and microfabrication facilities for Australia's researchers. This work was supported in part by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls (CE110001007) and an ARC Discovery Project (DP150104147). OM acknowledges Ph.D. funding by an Australian Postgraduate Award and Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation scholarships. Mass spectroscopy assistance was provided by Dr Amanda Nouwens (University of Queensland) from the Australian Proteomics Computational facility.