Physical and Chemical Analysis of Dietary Fibres in Sugar Beet and Vegetables

Antioxidant activity of cookiessupplemented with sugarbeet dietary fiber

The antioxidant activity of cookies prepared by the addition of sugarbeet dietary fibers was investigated in order to estimate their influence on functional characteristics and shelf-life of cookies. Treated fiber (TF) was obtained from sugarbeet by extraction with sulfurous acid (75 °C at pH = 5.7during 60 min) and treatment with hydrogen peroxide (20 g/LH2O2 at pH = 11 during 24 h). The fiber obtained was dried (80 °C), ground and sieved. TF was investigated in comparison with commercially available Fibrex®. The cookies were prepared by the addition of 0, 7, 9 and 11% of sugarbeet dietary fiber as a substitute for wheat flour in the formulation of cookies. The antioxidant properties of cookies were tested every 7 days using a DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity test during 6 weeks of storage at room temperature (23 ± 1 ºC). The obtained results indicated that substitution of wheat flour with Fibrex® in the formulation of cookies upgraded the antioxidant activity, i.e. the functional characteristics of Fibrex®-enriched cookies and could prolong their shelf-life. In contrast, TF did not increase the antioxidant activity of TF-enriched cookies. The better antioxidant activities of Fibrex®-enriched cookies could be attributed to the presence of ferulic acid.

A cross-polarization, magic-angle-spinning, 13C-nuclear-magnetic-resonance study of polysaccharides in sugar beet cell walls

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation experiments were used to study the rigidity and spatial proximity of polymers in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) cell walls. Proton T1rho decay and cross-polarization patterns were consistent with the presence of rigid, crystalline cellulose microfibrils with a diameter of approximately 3 nm, mobile pectic galacturonans, and highly mobile arabinans. A direct-polarization, magic-angle-spinning spectrum recorded under conditions adapted to mobile polymers showed only the arabinans, which had a conformation similar to that of beet arabinans in solution. These cell walls contained very small amounts of hemicellulosic polymers such as xyloglucan, xylan, and mannan, and no arabinan or galacturonan fraction closely associated with cellulose microfibrils, as would be expected of hemicelluloses. Cellulose microfibrils in the beet cell walls were stable in the absence of any polysaccharide coating.