The invention relates to a product for use in the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of infections, said treatment comprising oral administration of the product, wherein the product is selected from a nutritional formulation, a food product, a dietary supplement, a beverage and a pharmaceutical product, said product containing carrot RG-I polysaccharides having the following combination features: a molecular weight in the range 10-300 kDa; a backbone consisting of galacturonic acid residues and rhamnose residues, said rhamnose residues being contained in alpha(1.fwdarw.4)-galacturonic-alpha(1.fwdarw.2)-rhamnose residues; the following monosaccharide composition: 20-60 mol. % galacturonic acid residues, wherein the individual galacturonic acids can be methylated and/or acetyl-esterified; 8-50 mol. % rhamnose residues; 0-40 mol. % arabinose residues; 0-40 mol. % galactose residues; molar ratio of galacturonic acid residues to rhamnose residues in the range of 5:1 to 1:1; galacturonic acid residues, rhamnose residues, arabinose residues and galactose residues together constitute at least 85 mol. % of the monosaccharide residues in the carrot RG-I polysaccharides. These carrot RG-I polysaccharides can be produced by partially hydrolysing pectic polysaccharides present in a carrot pectin isolate. The effectiveness of carrot RG-I polysaccharides against infections is substantially improved by enzymatically hydrolysing the RG-I polysaccharides to remove at least part of the homogalacturonan component.

The invention relates to a product for use in the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of infections, said treatment comprising oral administration of the product, wherein the product is selected from a nutritional formulation, a food product, a dietary supplement, a beverage and a pharmaceutical product, said product containing carrot RG-I polysaccharides having the following combination features: a molecular weight in the range 10-300 kDa; a backbone consisting of galacturonic acid residues and rhamnose residues, said rhamnose residues being contained in alpha(1.fwdarw.4)-galacturonic-alpha(1.fwdarw.2)-rhamnose residues; the following monosaccharide composition: 20-60 mol. % galacturonic acid residues, wherein the individual galacturonic acids can be methylated and/or acetyl-esterified; 8-50 mol. % rhamnose residues; 0-40 mol. % arabinose residues; 0-40 mol. % galactose residues; molar ratio of galacturonic acid residues to rhamnose residues in the range of 5:1 to 1:1; galacturonic acid residues, rhamnose residues, arabinose residues and galactose residues together constitute at least 85 mol. % of the monosaccharide residues in the carrot RG-I polysaccharides.

These carrot RG-I polysaccharides can be produced by partially hydrolysing pectic polysaccharides present in a carrot pectin isolate. The effectiveness of carrot RG-I polysaccharides against infections is substantially improved by enzymatically hydrolysing the RG-I polysaccharides to remove at least part of the homogalacturonan component.

The invention provides a method of producing a hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate that is enriched in rhamnogalacturonan-I, said method comprising the steps of: providing a pectin-rich substrate that has been obtained from plant material without the use of organic solvent, said pectin-rich substrate containing at least 3% by weight of dry matter of pectic polysaccharides; subjecting the pectin-rich substrate to enzymatic treatment to partially hydrolyse the pectic polysaccharides, said treatment enzymatic treatment comprising the use of one or more pectinases selected from pectin lyase (EC4.2.2.10), pectate lyase (EC 4.2.2.2), rhamnogalacturonan galacturonohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.173), endo-polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15), exopolygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.67 and EC 3.2.1.82); subjecting the partially hydrolysed pectic polysaccharides to ultrafiltration using an ultrafiltration membrane having a molecular weight cut-off in the range of 5 to 100 kDa; and recovering the ultrafiltration retentate.

The present invention further relates to the hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate obtained by the present method and to a process of preparing a product selected from a nutritional formulation, a food product, a dietary supplement, a beverage or a pharmaceutical product, said process comprising addition of the aforementioned hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate.

The invention provides a method of producing a hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate that is enriched in rhamnogalacturonan-I, said method comprising the steps of: providing a pectin-rich substrate that has been obtained from plant material without the use of organic solvent, said pectin-rich substrate containing at least 3% by weight of dry matter of pectic polysaccharides; subjecting the pectin-rich substrate to enzymatic treatment to partially hydrolyse the pectic polysaccharides, said treatment enzymatic treatment comprising the use of one or more pectinases selected from pectin lyase (EC4.2.2.10), pectate lyase (EC 4.2.2.2), rhamnogalacturonan galacturonohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.173), endo-polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15), exopolygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.67 and EC 3.2.1.82); subjecting the partially hydrolysed pectic polysaccharides to ultrafiltration using an ultrafiltration membrane having a molecular weight cut-off in the range of 5 to 100 kDa; and recovering the ultrafiltration retentate. The present invention further relates to the hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate obtained by the present method and to a process of preparing a product selected from a nutritional formulation, a food product, a dietary supplement, a beverage or a pharmaceutical product, said process comprising addition of the aforementioned hydrolysed pectic polysaccharide isolate.