Water Holding Capacity of Hemicelluloses from Fruits, Vegetables and Wheat Bran

Abstract

ABSTRACT The water‐holding capacities of freeze‐dried bean, cabbage, lettuce, onion, peach, pear, pumpkin, tomato, wheat bran and their hemicelluloses were determined by the centrifugation method. Cabbage had the greatest water‐holding capacity at 35.8g of water per gram of dry food; bran the lowest at 5.2g water per gram. The waterholding capacity (WHC) of the hemicelluloses from fruits and vegetables varied considerably from 3.3 g/g in beans to 12.0 g/g from cabbage. Hemicelluloses extracted from wheat bran showed a marked increase in WHC from 5.2 g/g of water per gram of‘whole’bran to 22.8 g/g for hemicellulose. This decreased to 15.3g of water bound by hemicellulose that had been extracted after chlorite delignification. WHC of hemicelluloses from wheat bran and cabbage may account for their ability to increase stool weight.