Antioxidant activity of feruloylated oligosaccharides from wheat bran

Ferulic acid, the main phenolic acid in wheat bran, is esterified to arabinose residues in the cell wall arabinoxylan. Treatment of wheat bran insoluble dietary fibre with xylanases from Bacillus subtilis released feruloylated oligosaccharides, which were purified with Amberlite XAD-2. The antioxidant activity of such oligosaccharides was evaluated using the assay system for erythrocyte hemolysis mediated by peroxyl free radicals generated from 2,2′-azobis-2-amidinopropane dihydrochloride (AAPH) under in vitro conditions. The feruloylated oligosaccharides inhibited hemolysis of erythrocytes in a dose-dependent manner with 91.7% inhibition of erythrocyte hemolysis at 4 mg/ml.