A Water Soluble Nonionic Biopolymer from Cassia surattensis

Abstract

A water soluble biopolymer composed of D-galactose and D-mannose in molar ratio 1:3 was isolated from the seeds of C. surattensis. Hydrolysis of the methylated polysaccharide furnished three methylated sugars (i) 2,3, di-O-methyl-D-mannose, (ii) 2,3,6, tri-O-methyl-D-mannose (ii) 2,3,4,6, tetra-O-methyl-D-galactose in molar ratio 1:2:1 while partial acidic hydrolysis yielded four oligosaccharides; (i) epimelibiose, (ii) mannobiose, (iii) mannotriose and (iv) galactosyl mannobi-ose. A structure for the polysaccharide has been suggested.