Configuration and hydrodynamic properties of fully acetylated salep glucomannan

The polysaccharide of salep orchid tuber was shown to be a glucomannan with a glucose/mannose ratio of 2.6 and an acetyl content of 2.1%. After extraction from the powdered root with water, the triacetate derivative was prepared and its configurational and hydrodynamic properties examined. The polymer yielded a series of fractions from 615 to 4170 in weight-average degree of polymerization. Light-scattering, viscosity, and osmometry experiments were conducted. Intrinsic viscosity results were interpreted according to the hydrodynamic theory of Eizner and Ptitsyn resulting in a value of ζ/η₀ = 20 ± 6 A. for the ratio of monomeric friction coefficient to solvent viscosity and a corresponding value of a = 55 ± 4 A. for the persistence length, closely similar to those reported for other β-1,4-linked polysaccharides. The theoretical Flory coefficient increased with increasing molecular weight but was less than the limiting value of Φ₀ = 2.86 × 10²³ mole^?1. The dependence of the light-scattering radius of gyration of the glucomannan polymer on the contour length showed that the configuration of the heteropolymer was similar to that of other β-1,4-linked polysaccharides which have only glucose or mannose in the main chain. Calculated radii of gyration based on the Porod-Kratky persistence length were found to be smaller than radii found by light scattering on the fractions.