Yeast Beta-glucans

What Is Yeast Beta-glucans?

Yeast Beta Glucan (YBG) is a naturally occurring complex polysaccharide (aka carbohydrate) that is a type of fiber. YBG is derived from the cell walls of baker's yeast which is scientifically known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae1.

YBG "primes" the body's immune cells by activating and enhancing various immune cells*2-5. This in turn supports a robust immune response to combat infections and promote overall immune health.

YBG, when incorporated into the diet, has been shown in clinical studies to reduce the incidence and symptoms of Upper Respiratory Tract Inflections (URTIs)3,4. Individuals, particularly those who are more susceptible to URTIs, had fewer and less severe episodes.

Advantages of Yeast Beta-glucans

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What Are the Differences Between Beta Glucans?

Oats. Mushrooms. Yeast. It sounds like a grocery list for a trendy bistro. What all these ingredients have in common is that they are types of beta glucans. But the similarities end there. Not only are these three types different on a molecular level, but they have differing effects on the body as well. Although each of these types of beta glucans may provide health benefits, the benefits differ, depending on the type of beta glucan.

Other Functions of Yeast Beta Glucan

Resistance to radiation
The anti-radiation effect of yeast beta glucan is the result of enhancing hematopoietic function. Yeast beta glucan can enhance the production of blood cells, including granulocytes, monocytes, and red blood cells, which is very good for the body to recover from radiation.

Nourish and moisturize skin
Yeast beta glucan boosts the body's immune system by activating macrophages such as Lang's cells. Activated Langhorne cells secrete factors that contribute to the proliferation of fibrocytes (skin cells) and the synthesis of the skin tissue matrix (collagen, elastin, proteoglycan, and other components), making the skin supple and tender.

Quasi-dietary fiber
Yeast beta glucan, a new food material, is difficult to digest in the digestive organs of the human body, so it has a fiber-like function. Studies have found that yeast beta glucan can significantly reduce human triglyceride levels, lower LDL(low-density lipoprotein) levels, and increase HDL(high-density lipoprotein) levels, effectively preventing human tissue lesions.

The intestinal health
Yeast beta glucan can effectively adjust the microecology of the digestive tract, proliferate beneficial bacteria and excrete harmful substances in the intestinal tract. When the human body is in a sub-health state for a long time, it will get sick. It needs a healthy diet to adjust the sub-health state. Yeast beta glucan can act on the sub-health state of the human body, promote it to a healthy state transformation, and achieve the purpose of improving health. In addition, it is suitable for all ages.

The food taste
The application of yeast beta glucan into food is beneficial to the taste of food. It has a fat-like taste and can be used as a non-calorie food ingredient, as a fat substitute in the production of low-calorie salad dressings, cheese analogs, and frozen desserts like ice cream, and as a light tonic in most meat products such as sausages, ham sausages, and hot dogs.

Extraction Methods of yYeast Beta-glucans

Acid-base method
Mannaners et al. first used the acid-base method to extract glucan from yeast, and after Williamms et al. improved, this method has formed a stable process. The alkali treatment process studied by Chung et al. is as follows: suspend 80 g of yeast cell walls in 1000 mL of 4% NaOH solution, incubate at 95 °C for 1 h, and centrifuge; suspend insoluble matter in 2000 mL of 3% NaOH solution, and incubate at 75 °C for 3 h. Centrifuge; suspend the insoluble matter in distilled water, adjust the pH to 4.5 with hydrochloric acid, incubate at 75°C for 1 hour, centrifuge, wash with water, dehydrate and dry to obtain yeast glucan. During acid treatment, the choice of acid has a great influence on the yield of glucan. If the acidity is too weak, the removal of acid-soluble glycogen and β-1,6-glucan will not be complete. If the acidity is too strong, the alkali-insoluble glucan will be degraded and the yield will be reduced. Therefore, when the pH is adjusted to 4.5 with acetic acid, the effect optimal.

Enzymatic method
The acid-base method is fast and efficient. Although it can obtain high-purity glucan products, it requires a large amount of acid and alkali, causes serious environmental pollution, requires the use of organic solvents, and causes certain damage to the glucan molecules. In order to overcome this deficiency, researchers at home and abroad have adopted a milder process to extract yeast beta glucan. Freimund et al. used enzyme method to treat yeast cell wall to prepare yeast beta glucan: take 1.3kg yeast cell wall and add 8.8L of water, adjust pH=7.0, keep Sh at 125°C, wash twice after centrifugation, add water to 10L for insoluble matter, then use alkali protease--Savinase enzyme treatment for 5 hours, centrifuged, washed, dried and washed with ethanol or acetone to obtain a glucan sample with a content of more than 85%. Tang Zhiyu et al. used enzyme-alkali combination method to extract yeast cell wall, treated autolyzed yeast with papain for 18 hours, collected the precipitate, and treated it with 2% NaOH for 3 hours at high temperature, and obtained the polysaccharide content of the sample was over 87%, and the yield was 10%. Zhao Guangyuan et al treated the yeast cell wall with protease at 57°C for 24h, then treated the centrifuged sediment with 2% NaOH at 60°C for 3.5h, centrifuged, washed, and dried to obtain yeast glucan samples. Enzyme treatment of the yeast cell wall can remove a large amount of protein, thereby reducing the concentration and usage of subsequent alkali, making the molecular structure of the yeast glucan product more complete. The molecular structure of glucan is closely related to its biological activity. Therefore, the enzymatic method is more suitable for the extraction and purification of large-scale yeast beta glucan.

Other methods
In addition to the traditional acid-base method and enzymatic method, some researchers also use other methods to produce yeast beta glucan products with higher purity. Japanese Ohno et al. used sodium hypochlorite to directly treat yeast cell walls, used 0.5% to 2% sodium hypochlorite solution to treat yeast cell walls at room temperature for more than 5 hours, and obtain high-purity yeast glucan products with a yield of more than 20%. Yanjun et al. also used the same way to treat yeast cell walls to obtain yeast glucan products with higher purity. Although this method can obtain high-purity yeast beta glucan, the effect of strong oxidants on the molecular structure of glucan needs to be further studied to investigate the impact on its physiological activity.