Experts predict that the β-glucan market will surpass omega-3 in the next few years and become one of the most popular raw materials in the market.

Experts from the International Glucan Research Association said that β-glucan has attracted more and more attention as an immunomodulator.The latest research also shows that β-glucan can support a series of health claims from improving immunity, lowering cholesterol, promoting wound healing, and protecting bone marrow.

β-glucan enhances the body's immunity

Experts point out that attention in nutrition circles is focused on omega-3, probiotics and protein. But in the next few years, beta-glucan will be even more popular than omega-3, because of its role in boosting immunity.

At present, the beta-glucan market is pouring money into sports research. The Texas Marathon study showed that marathon participants who used beta-glucan had a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of upper respiratory illness, commonly known as colds, compared to a control group.

Following β-glucan binding, cells respond by producing various molecules that subsequently stimulate other cell types. This is why beta-glucan has such a broad range of effects, as it affects numerous cell types involved in immune and other responses.

For a long time, it was thought that beta-glucan only affects the immune response of cell types. However, later research clearly showed that beta-glucan also stimulates antibody responses, implying that it also has a direct effect on the humoral branch of the immune response.

Meanwhile, beta-glucan is also linked to the booming market for prebiotics and dietary fiber. β-glucan combined with vitamin C can enhance the microbiome in the gastrointestinal tract, and its effect on the body's immune function is currently being studied. The beta-glucan space will continue to grow as the nutrition industry takes notice of this niche market.

A Natural healthy ingredient

As early as December 19, 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (The Health and Medical Commission) issued the "Announcement on the Approval of 9 New Food Raw Materials such as Tomato Seed Oil (No. 20, 2014)", officially approving oat β- Glucan is a new food raw material.

Oat bran is a by-product of oat processing, and β-glucan is the main dietary fiber in oat bran, which has important physiological functions.β-glucan exists in the cell wall of oat milk germ and aleurone layer, and is enriched in a large amount in the sub-aleurone layer of the grain, mainly composed of many monosaccharides through β-(1,3) and β-(1,4 ) is a non-digestible β-D-glucan formed by glucoside links, and this special structure also makes oat glucan have special physiological functions.

Consciously increasing the intake of oat β-glucan is the first choice for precise nutritional supplements to improve your own immune defense during the season of high incidence of bacteria and viruses!

Applications in the food industry

Application in flour products

The addition of oat bran powder not only enriches the nutritional content of the bread, but also improves the kneading resistance of the dough. The unique water holding capacity of oat β-glucan also prolongs the freshness of the bread.Studies have shown that: when the amount of dietary fiber added to oatmeal is 6%, the sensory properties and various indicators of the cake are the most ideal.

Application in meat products

Improve water and oil retention, improve sensory flavor

Adding oat β-glucan to minced meat found that the water-holding and oil-holding properties of minced meat were improved to a certain extent. In addition, the sensory properties of minced meat were also improved, with good flavor and freshness. Juicy and elastic.

The honeycomb appearance of oat β-glucan was the main reason for its good adsorption, water and oil retention. When added to meat products, the unique mesh structure supports meat tissue and reduces water loss during processing.

In addition, oat β-glucan also has the taste of fat, which can be used as a fat substitute to be added to meat foods. For example, adding it to sausages can not only reduce the proportion of fat added, but also reduce the amount of starch used, so that sausages has better flavor and taste.

Applications in Dairy Products

Thickening and viscosifying, stable in acidic environment, improving sensory properties of products.

By adding oat β-glucan to yogurt, it was found that the yogurt added with oat β-glucan had a smooth texture, delicate taste and rich milky aroma, and had good sensory properties. Oat β-glucan is a kind of viscous polysaccharide, therefore, when added to yogurt, make its viscosity increase, has the role of thickening.

Yogurt contains a large number of probiotics that are beneficial to intestinal health, and the overall environment is acidic. However oat β-glucan is stable in yogurt, and the contents of water retention and viscosity have little change during shelf life.  Oat β-glucan can also be used as a fermentation substrate for probiotics such as bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria.

Other applications

Oat β-glucan is also widely used in other fields of food industry, such as oat fiber chews, oat cake, oat lactone tofu, matsutake oat nutrition meal, oat vinegar, composite fruit and vegetable oat meat breast, oat instant noodles, oat cheese, oat porridge and oat nutrition and health wine, etc.

In addition, oat β-glucan is also used in cosmetics, health products and medicine, and has a huge room for development.