Linden flowers are known to contain considerable amounts of mucilage. Quantitative
determinations of these water soluble polysaccharides were carried out by viscosimetric
measurements. It was shown that the mucilage after total hydrolysis in trifluoracetic
acid was composed of D-galactose, L-arabinose and L-rhamnose and minor amounts of
D-glucose, D-mannose and D-xylose. The high percentage of uronic acid (52%) was due
to the presence of both, D-galacturonic acid and D-glucuronic acid. Fractionation
of the mucilage polysaccharides on DEAE-cellulose resulted in a separation of five
distinct polysaccharide fractions, which showed different sugar compositions and uronic
acid content. The homogeneity of the polysaccharide fractions 1-5 was further examined
by high voltage electrophoresis and analytical ultracentrifugation.
Tilia sp., Lindenblüten DAB 8 - Tiliaceae - Mucilage - Plant polysaccharides - Polysaccharide
Fractionation
