Polysaccharides from Fabaceae. IV. Galactomannan from Gueldenstaedtia monophylla seeds

Galactomannan (yield 1.73% of seed mass) with molecular weight 808 kDa was isolated from seeds of Gueldenstaedtia monophylla Fisch. (Fabaceae). Its solutions were typically highly viscous with [η] 664.7 mL/g and optically active with [α]_D +45.2°. It consisted of galactose and mannose in a 1:1.91 ratio. Physical chemical methods established that the principal chain of the polysaccharide consisted of 1,4-β-D-mannopyranose units substituted 50.1% in the C-6-position by single α-D-galactopyranose units and traces of 6-O-α-galactopyranosylgalactopyranose. The contents of mannobiose blocks substituted by galactose Man–Man, (Gal)Man–Man/Man–Man(Gal), and (Gal)Man–Man(Gal) in the galactomannan macromolecule were 23, 42, and 35%, respectively.