Antonio Vera

The composition of two Spondias gum exudates

The polysaccharides isolated from Spondias purpureavar. lutea and Spondias cythereacontain galactose, as main component, arabinose, mannose, xylose and rhamnose residues. On the other hand, glucuronic acid and its 4-0-methyl derivative are present in those polysaccharides in contrast to the presence of galacturonic acid reported for other Spondias gums. S. cytherea gum has the highest intrinsic viscosity (63 ml/g). The values of nitrogen are comparable to those observed for some Acacia included in series Vulgares. Comparison of the specific optical rotation values and the 13 C-NMR spectra of the polysaccharides from S. purpurea var. lutea and S. purpurea, may be very useful to distinguish those two close botanical species. The high solubility of the Spondias gums studied and the absence of tannin may have potential industrial application therefore, it is necessary to do toxicological studies of those Spondias gums. q 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.