| abstract |
Gels are produced from an aqueous soluble hemicellulosic starting medium which is free of glucans and obtainable from testaceous plant material. The starting medium is extracted with a non-acidic reagent and reacted with an oxidizing system comprising a peroxide, together with an oxygenase. n The gel material is substantially free of glucans and pectins, and comprises a polysaccharide network comprising a matrix of polysaccharide chain segments with a multiplicity of cross-linking ferulate bridges at regularly spaced intervals along the cross-linked chain segments. |