GALACTOMANNANS AND ARABINANS FROM SEEDS OF CAESALPINIACEAE

Schizolobium parahybae and S. amazonicum seeds yielded galactomannans with identical 3.0:1 Man:Gal ratios and with the same D-galactose dist ribution along the main chain. Although the galactomannan from seeds o f Cassia fastuosa showed the same Man:Gal ratio, its line structure di ffered significantly from that of the two Schizolobium species as show n by the analysis of cligosaccharides (DP 2 to 6) obtained by partial acid hydrolysis. Seed coats of S. parahybae and S. amazonicum furnishe d similar unusual neutral linear alpha-L-arabinofuranan (1-->5) linked , as determined by methylation analysis, optical rotation and C-13 NMR spectroscopy. On the other hand, C. fastuosa seed coats furnished two acidic arabinans. These results in terms of using galactomannans and arabinans in chemotyping, support the suggestion of Rizzini that S. pa rahybae and S. amazonicum are not different species. (C) 1998 Publishe d by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.