galactomannan
Sign in to savethumb|right|A segment of galactomannan showing mannose backbone (below) with a branching galactose unit (top) Galactomannans are polysaccharides consisting of a mannose backbone with galactose side groups, more specifically, a (1-4)-linked beta-D-mannopyranose backbone with branchpoints from their 6-positions linked to alpha-D-galactose, (i.e. 1-6-linked alpha-D-galactopyranose).
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- Food use
- Clinical use
- References
thumb|right|A segment of galactomannan showing mannose backbone (below) with a branching galactose unit (top) Galactomannans are polysaccharides consisting of a mannose backbone with galactose side groups, more specifically, a (1-4)-linked beta-D-mannopyranose backbone with branchpoints from their 6-positions linked to alpha-D-galactose, (i.e. 1-6-linked alpha-D-galactopyranose).
In order of increasing number of mannose-to-galactose ratio: fenugreek gum, mannose:galactose ~1:1 guar gum, mannose:galactose ~2:1 tara gum, mannose:galactose ~3:1 locust bean gum or carob gum, mannose:galactose ~4:1 cassia gum, mannose:galactose ~5:1 Galactomannans are often used in food products to increase the viscosity of the water phase.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “galactomannan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.