A novel polysaccharide named Fenugreek Water-Soluble Polysaccharide (FWSP), consisting of a gluconic acid polymer, was isolated from fenugreek seeds. It was structurally characterized by Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), High performance liquid chromatograpy (HPLC), and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. FT-IR and NMR spectra showed the characteristic bands of polysaccharides. According to XRD spectrum, FWSP is a semi-crystalline polymer. Functional properties of FWSP were investigated based on Water Holding Capacity (WHC), Oil Holding Capacity (OHC), emulsification activity, and foaming ability. FWSP was capable of emulsifying several food-grade oils and hydrophobic compounds, especially corn oil and hexane. The effects of FWSP on oxidative processes in beef sausages during refrigerated (4°C) storage was investigated. The results showed significant inhibition (p<0.05) of lipid and myoglobin oxidation and provided evidence that FWSP is a potent and useful antioxidant for maintaining storage stability of beef sausages, and could replace vitamin C currently used as antioxidant in industry process.
Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Fenugreek; Functional properties; Polysaccharides; Structure.
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