| abstract |
Nutritional and pharmaceutical compositions having cholesterol- lowering activities can be produced by incorporating at least 1 wt.% of a polysaccharide which is characterised by a molecular weight of at least 104 Dalton, an α-anhydroglucose content of at least 80% and a branching percentage of at least 6%. The corresponding glucan preferably has α-1,4 and α-1,6 bonds. The polysaccharide can be produced by a lactic acid bacterium, in particular a Lactobacillus strain. |