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Galactans from Gracilaria millardetii and G textorii (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) of Indian waters
Author(s) -
Oza Mihir D.,
Mehta Gaurav K.,
Kumar Sanjay,
Meena Ramavatar,
Siddhanta Arup K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1835.2011.00622.x
Subject(s) - galactan , gracilaria , galactose , polysaccharide , gigartinales , biology , starch , chromatography , gel permeation chromatography , botany , algae , biochemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer
SUMMARY Galactans containing methylated galactan moieties were extracted from Indian agarophytes, namely, Gracilaria millardetii and Gracilaria textorii growing naturally along the west coast of India. The galactans were treated with α‐amylase to remove floridean starch. These were characterized by Fourier Transform‐Infrared (FT IR), 13 C‐Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (C NMR), Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry (GC MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma spectroscopy (ICP) and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and were found to be composed of d ‐galactose, 6‐ O ‐methyl‐D‐galactose and 3,6‐anhydro‐L‐galactose. Methylation analyses revealed that both the polysaccharides consisted of 3‐, 2,3‐, 4,6‐linked galactose as well as four‐linked 3,6‐anhydro galactose residues. Both the Gracilaria species produced low gelling (<100 g cm −2 ) and highly sulfated (2.1% to 4.8%) galactans containing very low heavy metal contents (ICP). These galactans may be of potential utility in food and biological applications.