Galactomannans are plant seed-derived polysaccharides widely recognised for their industrial applications. This stems from their inherent techno-functional properties including thickening, gelling, cryogel formation and interface stabilisation. Previous studies have demonstrated that the molecular conformational properties of galactomannans are inextricably associated with their bestowed techno-functionality, with the mannose-to-galactose ratio (M/G) being the most critical parameter. Generally, high galactose substituted galactomannans (M/G ~ 1-2) are well known for their high thickening capacity and cold-water solubility and swelling ability. On the other hand, further increase in the M/G ratio favours the gelling and cryogel forming capacity of galactomannans but compromises their cold-water solvation affinity.

Despite their industrial importance, galactomannans currently face a significant supply-demand gap. This is not only due to the steadily increasing use of galactomannans in industrial commodity applications (food, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, composite materials, etc.) but also to the fact that the yield of galactomannan-producing crops (i.e., fenugreek, guar, tara, carob, and cassia) is being reduced due to climate change and the geographically and ecologically restricted cultivation of these crops. Recently, our team demonstrated that the seeds of forage legume crops such as alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) and clover (Trifolium pratense L.) are promising highly sustainable and ecologically resilient bioresources of industrially relevant galactomannans with an M_wof 1500-2200 kDa and M/G <1.2.

ENTANGLE project aims a machine learning assisted bioprocessing approach for developing galactomannan derivatives of broad techno-functionality including thickening, gelling, texturizing, cryo-structuring and health promoting properties. The present work showcases a bioprocessing-based approach for producing a locust bean gum analogue from alfalfa seeds isolated galactomannans. Compared to the native alfalfa gum (AAG) the modified AAG (mAAG) exerted notably diverse structure conformational properties leading to significantly enhanced thickening and cold-gelling behaviour. mAAG exhibited a mirroring cold-gelling behaviour to purified commercial LBG whilst it outperformed LBG in terms of its cold-gelling and cryogelling synergism with other industrial hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum and kappa-carrageenan.

Conference Theme: Innovative hydrocolloid design for delivering optimal nutrition and functional foods