The immunologically active xylan from ultrasound-treated corn cobs: extractability, structure and properties

The extractability of the corn cob xylan, particularly its water-soluble co mponent (ws-X), was studied using extraction methods with and without appli cation of ultrasound in water and aqueous NaOH. The results indicate that w s-X comprise a variety of xylan polymers differing in the proportion of sid e chains composed of single arabinose and glucuronic acid side chains and 2 -O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-alpha-1-arabinofuranose moieties. The xylan fractio ns were characterized by yield, composition, structural features, molecular properties and biological response in mitogenic and comitogenic thymocyte tests. Compared to the classically extracted xylans, the ws-X prepared by t he assistance of ultrasound had the same primary structure features and sim ilar or slightly higher stimulatory activities in both tests. (C) 1998 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.