Volume 6 • Issue 5 • 1000446 J Food Process Technol ISSN: 2157-7110 JFPT, an open access journal Open Access Research Article Ogutu et al., J Food Process Technol 2015, 6:5 DOI: 10.4172/2157-7110.1000446 *Corresonding author: Fredrick Onyango Ogutu, Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Nutritional Sciences, Institute of Agro-product products Processing Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China, Tel: +86 13021072954; E-mail: fogutu0@gmail.com Received March 16, 2015; Accepted April 08, 2015; Published April 15, 2015 Citation: Ogutu FO, Mu T, Elahi R, Zhang M, Sun H (2015) Ultrasonic Modifcation of Selected Polysaccharides-Review. J Food Process Technol 6: 446. doi:10.4172/2157-7110.1000446 Copyright: © 2015 Ogutu FO, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract This review is a survey on ultrasonic application in selected carbohydrate polymers based upon available research reports. It covers a brief discussion on the fundamentals of ultrasound technology, before delving on the effects of ultrasound on specifc polymers; pectin, chitin, starch, carrageenan and guar gum, their modifcation products and possible applications in food, pharmaceutical, biomedical and packaging sectors. Sonication generally leads to depolymerization and side chain break within molecules resulting into oligosugars. Oligosugars are widely used as prebiotics and specifc delivery systems; moreover, nano sized products of sonication can be applied in diverse felds. Presently, ultrasonic is fnding application in wider sectors therefore better understanding of the complex physico-chemical changes and mechanism of the action of high-intensity ultrasound and its effect on techno-functional properties of compounds would immensely fortify the application of ultrasonic technology. Ultrasonic Modification of Selected Polysaccharides-Review Fredrick Onyango Ogutu 1,2* , Tai-Hua Mu 1 , Rizwan Elahi 1 , Miao Zhang 1 and Hong-Nan Sun 1 1 Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Nutritional Sciences, Institute of Agro-product products Processing Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China 2 Food Technology Division, Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), Nairobi-Kenya Keywords: Sonication; Oligosaccharides; Cavitation; Depolymerization; Modifcation; Functional Introduction Carbohydrate polymers are the most abundant organic resources in nature with cellulose, chitin and starch being the most abundant, they consist of polymeric structures, formed by repeating units of monosaccharide joined together by 0- glycosidic bonds [1]. Carbohydrate polymers are quite diverse based upon their monosaccharide composition, bond linkage type, branching, degrees of polymerization and cone shape [2]. Te polymers are widely applied in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and others sectors [3-6]. Te carbohydrate colloids are mainly applied in food as stabilizers, emulsifers, thickening and texture improving agents [7,8]. Te colloids application as food ingredient is based upon their physic-chemical characteristics, which ofen limit their application. To diversify the application of the colloids in food and functional food, modifcation is ofen required to achieve desired quality [9,10]. For instance, colloid size reduction has been shown to enhance stability in food a system that requires stabilization [11,12]. Food ingredients and functional food sector has been growing from the macro scale molecules to micro and currently nano scale [13- 16]. While micro and nano-sized food particles are believed to have better absorption, stabilization ability and solubility etc. For instance starch nano crystals use as a reinforcing phase in a polymeric matrix and as a barrier material in packaging materials nano-emulsion was also shown to be efective carrier for hydrophobic bioactive molecules since novel ingredients can be added with negligible impact to solution clarity. For a long time enzymatic and chemical methods have been the preferred choice for molecular size reduction in colloids. However, due to the hazardous nature of chemicals and delicate control in enzymatic reactions the use of physical methods has been gaining ground [17- 19]. Ultrasonic method is emerging as an easily adaptable, easy to use and efective method of polymer modifcation as demonstrated by the numerous research reports [20-23]. Te current review looked at research papers on sonication of pectin, carrageenan, chitosan, guar gum and starch. Te aim was to give insight into sonolysis by extracting the documented pieces of evidence, with a view of aiding better understanding the underlying process, products and possible applications. Ultrasonic is defned as the science and technology of applying sound waves with frequencies above human hearing ability, essentially above 20 kHz [24]. Ultrasound can be classifed into two main classes based upon frequency range i.e. power ultrasound and diagnostic ultrasound [25]. Power ultrasound is in the average range of 18-100 kHz and intensity >1 w/m 2 which can be applied in processing and chemical transformation, while diagnostic ultrasound with frequency above 500 MHz. Power ultrasound may also be referred to as Sonochemistry, which is the Ultrasound application in materials, chemical reaction and processes, excluding medical applications [26]. Another classifcation scheme categorizes ultrasound into three main classes based upon their frequency and power range as follows; low frequency high power ultrasound 20-10 kHz, medium frequency medium power ultrasound 100kHz-1MHz and the high frequency low power ultrasound >1 MHz. Ultrasound with high impact applied in the food industry is in the range of low and high frequency. However, this defnition is steadily changing with increasing and expanding applications of ultrasound in areas like cleaning, measuring quality and fow rate of foods [27,28]. Tis paper reviews the available literature on the application of power ultrasound to selected carbohydrates polymer and its sonochemical impact. General Applications of Ultrasonic in Foods Ultrasound is a form of energy carried by sound and can be transformed into other forms energy which is the basis of its applications [29,30]. Power ultrasound is capable of causing physical and chemical transformations through acoustic cavitation [31]. Ultrasonic treatment requires fuid for cavitation to be generated; moreover, some conditions must be met, for instance the frequency must be between 20 to 100 kHz. Journal of Food Processing & Technology J o u r n a l o f F o o d P r o c e s s i n g & T e c h n o l o g y ISSN: 2157-7110