Constitution of a degraded polysaccharide from wheat bran

Graded acid hydrolysis of a soluble wheat bran hemicellulose containing L-arabinose (50%), D-xylose (38.5%), and D-glucuronic acid (9.0%) preferentially removed the L-arabinose giving an insoluble acidic polysaccharide in approximately 25% yield by weight. Methylation studies, periodate oxidation data, and hypoiodite end group estimations showed that the degraded polysaccharide was composed of repeating units of 7-8 D-xylopyranose residues joined by \u3b2,1\u2002\u2192\u20024 linkages. To this repeating unit, one D-glucuronic acid unit was attached by a 1\u2002\u2192\u20022 glycosidic bond. The cellulolytic enzyme of Myrotheciumverrucaria, which is specific for \u3b2,1\u2002\u2192\u20024 glycosidic linkages, hydrolyzed the degraded polysaccharide although it had no effect on the parent hemicellulose.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye