The monosaccharide compositions of parenchyma cell walls of raw and cooked
corms of tare, Colocasia esculenta cv Tausala Pink, were determined. The ce
ll wall constituents were sequentially extracted using CDTA, Na2CO3, 1M KOH
, 4M KOH and water to leave a final residue (alpha -cellulose). The monosac
charide compositions of the cell walls and cell wall fractions from the raw
and cooked corms were consistent with the presence in these cell walls of
large amounts of cellulose and pectic polysaccharides. The monosaccharide c
omposition of the cell walls of the raw corms resembled the monosaccharide
compositions of primary cell walls of other non-commelinoid monocotyledons
and dicotyledons. Cooking of the corms resulted in alteration of the cell w
alls, with solubilisation of pectic polysaccharides occurring earlier in th
e sequential fractionation and possibly changes in the extractability of xy
loglucans and/or xylans. (C) 2000 Society of Chemical Industry.