Xylose is a type of pentose. Natural D-xylose exists in plants in the form of polysaccharides. Xylose can
activate and promote the growth of bifidobacteria in the human intestinal tract. Bifidobacteria are
beneficial bacteria. The more bacteria, the more beneficial to human health. Eating xylose can improve the
human microbial environment and improve the immune system of the body. After being absorbed in the
upper small intestine, sugar does not participate in metabolism in the body and is excreted by the kidneys.
Therefore, the absorption of D-xylose has been an important functional indicator of small intestinal
malabsorption.
D-xylose is hydrolyzed to produce furfural under strong acid conditions. Furfural can react with resorcinol
to form pink compounds. It has a special absorption peak at 554 nm. Based on this, the content of xylose in
the sample can be calculated from the absorbance.
Reagents and Equipment Required but Not Provided:
Spectrophotometer/ Microplate reader, water bath/constant temperature incubator, adjustable
transferpettor, balance, mortar/homogenizer, centrifuge, micro glass cuvette/ 96 well flat-bottom plate, EP
tube, acid and distilled water.
Sample preparation:
1. Plant samples: The tested plant samples are dried in a blast oven at 65℃, ground into a powder, and
pass through a 30-50 mesh sieve. According to weight (g): volume of extract solution (mL)= 1: 50 ~
100 ratio (we recommend to weigh 10 mg of dry sample and add 0.5 mL of extract solution), vortex to
mix, hydrolyze in 100℃ water bath for 2 h, then centrifuge at 10000rpm and room temperature for 15
min, discard the pellet, and take the supernatant for testing;
