An Overview of β-Glucan Functionality in Dairy Products

Background: Consumers’ awareness of how diet is affecting the health and their demand for healthy foods has encouraged the food industry to produce healthy food products. Thus, functional ingredients including probiotics and prebiotics have been introduced to industry in order to develop these types of food products. Objective: The aim of this article was to review β-glucan structure, its applications as a prebiotic and its healthful benefits as well as its effects on physiochemical, rheological and sensory characteristics of dairy products. Methods: This was a literature research using the keywords “β-glucan”, “dairy products”, “dietary fiber”, “physiochemical properties”, “prebiotic”, “sensory properties” in Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed. Results: It was described that β-glucan, as a soluble dietary fiber has many desirable biological activities and health benefits. Moreover, it has specific physical properties including gelling capacity, stabilizer, emulsifying and thickening agent that make it suitable for using in foods, medicines and cosmetics industries. In dairy products it can be used as a prebiotic, texturizer and fat replacer. Conclusion: β-glucan can be used in dairy products in order to enhance the viability of probiotics as well as improving texture and sensory properties of these products. However, an appropriate level of this compound should be incorporated into the products based on the type of β-glucan and dairy product.