Black Cumin Polysaccharides

Plants have long been used as a source of food and remediation. Plant products always contain polysaccharides of different sizes, concentrations and chemical sequences. These biomolecules are stable, safe and possess various biological activities. They could represent a new natural source of additives for the food and pharmaceutical industries. The purpose of the current chapter is to characterize the polysaccharides extracted from black cumin seeds. The structural and the surface characteristics, as well as the functional and the antioxidant properties of black cumin polysaccharides (BCSP) were reported. BCSP consisted principally of galacturonic acid (30.2%), glucuronic acid (17.6%) and neutral sugar (22.9%). The structural characterization has shown that BCSP have a semi-crystalline structure. FTIR and NMR spectroscopy illustrated the typical peaks of polysaccharides. NMR data indicated that BCSP was probably a rhamnogalacturonan backbone with galactan and arabinan side chains. The foaming and emulsifying properties of BCSP were relatively high and varied with concentrations. In addition, BCSP was a promising source of natural antioxidants. Therefore, the information in this chapter could open up new opportunities for the development of effective functional ingredients for use in a wide range of food and pharmaceutical applications.