pentosan

pentosan (plural pentosans)

1. (biochemistry) Any polysaccharide composed of pentoses.
   • 2004, Harold McGee, chapter 9, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN:

     Thanks to its pentosans, rye flour absorbs eight times its weight in water, while wheat flour absorbs two. Unlike starch, the pentosans don't retrograde and harden after being cooked and cooled. So they provide a soft, moist texture that helps gives rye breads a shelf life of weeks.

• arabinoxylan