Asparagus polysaccharides. I. Isolation and characterization of polysaccharides ofA. neglectus: Glucomannans of the roots

Water-soluble polysaccharides and pectin substances have been isolated from various organs ofA. neglectus and their quantitative amounts and monosacchardie compositions have been determined. Native acetylated glucomannans (A, B, and C) containing 13, 15, and 20% of acetyl groups and being homogeneous according to the results of gel chromatography have been isolated from the roots. On the basis of the results of periodate oxidation, methylation, and IR spectroscopy it has been established that the neutral polysaccharides of the roots ofA. neglectus is a mixture of three glucomannans consisting of -14 linear-bound D-gluco- and D-mannopyranose residues.Deceased.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 702–706, November–December, 1981.