Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
resulting in the formation and stabilization of nanoparticles with unique H-bonding
capabilities for building smart nanomaterials which find application in biomedicine
as probes of carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions and carbohydrate-protein
interactions, anti-adhesive therapy, biolabels, bioamplification strategies, antimi-
crobial agents, and in material science for microstructure manipulation, quantum
dots, and magnetic bioconjugation [
102
,
104
].
Xylooligosaccharides
Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) have a great prebiotic prospective and their produc-
tion on an industrial scale is carried out from lignocellulosic materials (LCMs) rich
in xylan by chemical and enzymatic methods, and the latter is preferred in food
industry because of lack of undesirable side reactions [
105
]. XOS seems to exert
their nutritional benefits in relation to human health exhibiting excellent physio-
logical properties including improvement in decreasing cholesterol, bowel func-
tion, calcium absorption, and lipid metabolism [
106
]. Furthermore, they can
promote a favorable intestinal environment by selectively enhancing the growth
of colonic microbiota such as
Bifidobacterium
and
Lactobacillus
[
107
]. In the
recent years, enzymatic production of xylooligosaccharides has attracted more
industries in order to make the conversion process economical and also for the
effective utilization of renewable plant-based biomasses [
108
]. In view of this fact,
sorghum grain or sorghum bagasse after pretreatment can be used as excellent
sources for XOS production as its hemicellulose content varies based on the
genotype of cultivar. Four types of oligosaccharides were reported from alkali-
extracted sorghum glucurono-arabinoxylan by digestion with a combination of
(1-
-
D
-
xylanase (Xyl I), both from
Aspergillus awamori
and were purified by size exclu-
sion chromatography followed by preparative high-performance anion-exchange
chromatography [
109
].
>
4)-
β
-
D
-arabinoxylan arabinofurano-hydrolase (AXH) and endo-(1-
>
4)-
β
Antidiabetic Compounds
The extracts of sorghum contain various phytochemicals like tannins, phenolic
acids, phytosterols, and policosanols. Phenolic extracts of some varieties of sor-
ghum exhibited antidiabetic effects by increasing serum insulin in diabetic rats, and
the effect was comparable with glibenclamide, a powerful antidiabetic drug
[
110
]. Sorghum tea made from roasted grains is rich in procyanidins which
exhibited stronger
-amylase inhibitory activities [
111
]. Com-
monly, acarbose, a commercially available drug, is used as an alpha-glucosidase
inhibitor which reversibly and competitively inhibits the digestion of oligo- and
disaccharides at the brush border of the small intestine and helps to keep blood
sugar levels within a target range. This effect controls diabetes and also the
development of obesity [
112
]. In this view, efforts can be made to validate the
clinical role of procyanidins for the treatment of alpha-glucosidase inhibition.
α
-glucosidase and
α
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