LAUSR

Chemical characterization of arabinoxylan extracted using a novel combination of alkali extraction and purification methods provides insight into the effectiveness of this novel combination of methods. Arabinoxylan was extracted from three byproducts of the cereal industry: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) bran, maize (Zea mays L.) bran, and dried distillers grain. The proximate composition, sugar profile, molecular weight, polydispersity index, and linkages were determined for all three types of arabinoxylan. The purities of the extracted arabinoxylan were as follows: 730 g kg−1 for wheat bran arabinoxylan, 850 g kg−1 for maize bran arabinoxylan, and 580 g kg−1 for dried distillers grain arabinoxylan. The arabinose to xylose ratio for all arabinoxylan extracts was 0.51. The maize bran arabinoxylan had the highest MW (7700333), and the dried distillers grain arabinoxylan had the lowest MW (5900000). The purity of the arabinoxylan obtained in this experiment is a clear indication of the effectiveness of the novel combination of alkali extraction and purification methods developed in this study.