Cellulose as a component of plant cell walls and as a food additive in confectioner
dc.contributor.advisor
Fry, Stephen
dc.contributor.advisor
Goodrich, Justin
dc.contributor.author
Nuorti, Ninni Anniina
dc.contributor.sponsor
MARS Inc.
en
dc.date.accessioned
2023-03-01T17:16:06Z
dc.date.available
2023-03-01T17:16:06Z
dc.date.issued
2023-02-15
dc.description.abstract
A healthy diet is rich in dietary fibre (largely indigestible polysaccharides, most of which derive from plant cell walls). Cellulose is one of the main components of plant cell walls and a major contributor to human dietary fibre intake. It is a natural component of food-plants, and can also be added during commercial preparation of foodstuffs.
This project investigates the physico-chemical properties of various commercial sources of cellulose that have been empirically found to differ in palatability, especially ‘mouth feel’, as additives to confectionery. The aim was to explain why these seemingly similar celluloses behave so differently as food additives. Concurrently, I performed comparable studies on plant cell walls (prepared as alcohol-insoluble residue; AIR), sourced from various plant species and tissues. Potential differences between cellulose preparations could include (a) contaminating non-cellulosic polymers, (b) degree of oxidation, and (c) accessibility of cellulosic surfaces to neighbouring solutes.
(a) Contaminating non-cellulosic polymers: I performed various studies for chemical composition – digestion with α-amylase for analysis of starch content; washing with phenol followed by Ba(OH)2 hydrolysis for analysis of covalently bound proteins; assay of acetyl bromide-soluble lignin and hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid and H2SO4 (followed by thin-layer chromatography) for analysis of hemicellulose relative to cellulose content. These assays did not reveal major differences between the various commercial cellulose samples – all were relatively pure cellulose. Naturally, the AIR preparations were more diverse in chemical composition, containing all the non-cellulose polymers studied (starch, proteins, lignin, hemicelluloses and pectin).
en
dc.identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/40382
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/3150
dc.language.iso
en
en
dc.publisher
The University of Edinburgh
en
dc.subject
cellulose
en
dc.subject
dietary fibre
en
dc.subject
accessability
en
dc.subject
cell wall
en
dc.subject
negative charge
en
dc.title
Cellulose as a component of plant cell walls and as a food additive in confectioner
en
dc.type
Thesis or Dissertation
en
dc.type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
en
dc.type.qualificationname
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
en
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1
- Name:
- Nuorti2023.pdf
- Size:
- 9.29 MB
- Format:
- Adobe Portable Document Format
- Description:
This item appears in the following Collection(s)