Derivatives of plant beta-glucans are hydrolyzed by intestinal lactase-phlorizin hydrolase of mammals.

Laminaribiose and gentiobiose, two O-beta-linked disaccharides deriving from plant beta-glucans, were found to be hydrolyzed in the rat small intestine by an enzyme anchored into the brush border membrane of the enterocytes. Immunological and biochemical data, together with the developmental pattern of expression, support that this activity is carried out by the bifunctional enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of lactose and glycosylceramides: the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase complex.