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Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Determination of Glucan Chain Length Distribution of Glycogen Using the Fluorophore-Assisted Carbohydrate Electrophoresis FACE Method
Published on: March 31, 2022
Deciphering the structural and functional characteristics of an innovative small cluster branched α-glucan produced
Yanli Wang1, Yuxiang Bai2, Jingjing Dong1
1State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China.
Abstract:
Highly branched α-glucan (HBAG) proved to be a promising material as an osmotic agent in peritoneal dialysis solutions. However, high resistance of HBAG to amylolytic enzymes might be a potential drawback for peritoneal dialysis due to its high degree of branching (20-30 %). To address this issue, we designed a small-clustered α-glucan (SCAG) with a relatively low molecular weight (Mw) and limited branching. Structural characteristics revealed that SCAG was successfully synthesized by modifying waxy rice starch (WRS) using sequential maltogenic α-amylase (MA) and starch branching enzyme (BE). The Mw of SCAG was 1.40 × 105 Da, and its (α1 → 6) bonds ratio was 8.93 %, which was below that of HBAG. A relatively short branch distribution was observed in SCAG (CL = 6.27). Short-range orderliness of WRS was reduced from 0.749 to 0.322 with the MABE incubation. Additionally, SCAG had an extremely low viscosity (~12 cP) and nearly no retrogradation. Although the resistance of SCAG to amylolytic enzymes was enhanced by 15.22 % compared with native WRS, the extent was significantly lower than that of HBAG in previous studies. These new findings demonstrate the potential of SCAG as a novel functional α-glucan in food and pharmaceutical applications.
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