EVIDENCE FOR THE PRESENCE OF ARABINOXYLAN HYDROLYZING ENZYMES IN EUROPEAN WHEAT FLOURS

Water extracts of hour samples prepared from six sound European wheat varieties hydrolyse p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside and p-nitrophe nyl-alpha-L-arabino-furanoside and, in addition, release soluble, dyed fragments from azurine crosslinked xylan. Incubation of water soluble wheat arabinoxylan with water extracts of flour results in the releas e of low molecular weight fractions consisting mainly of arabinose and xylose and small proportions of oligosaccharides as detected by high performance anion exchange chromatography. Gel permeation profiles of the incubation mixtures show a clear breakdown of the arabinoxylan. (C ) 1995 Academic Press Limited