GLEDITSIA TRIACANTHOS: A NOVEL SOURCE OF GALACTOMANNAN

SCIARINI L; RIBOTTA PD; PEREZ GT; LEON AE

Polysaccharides: Development, Properties and Applications

Nova Science Publishers

Lugar: New York; Año: 2010; p. 503 - 521

Galactomannans are hydrocolloids widely used in the food, paper, ink, cosmetic and pharmaceutics industries. They occur as storage polysaccharides in the seed endosperm of plants in the Fabaceae family, and they can be obtained either by solubilization in warm or cold water, or by concentration with alkaline solutions. These polysaccharides consist in a mannose backbone substituted with galactosyl residues. The substitution degree depends on the plant source and the extraction and purification conditions they are obtained by. In this chapter, a revision of functional properties of the products isolated from the seeds of Gleditsia triacanthos will be presented, and an attempt to relate functional properties and chemical aspects will be made.