Effect of the molecular fine structure of galactomannans on their interaction properties - the role of unsubstituted sides

A range of galactomannans varying widely in the content of D-galactose have been compared for self-association, and their interaction properties with agarose and xanthan. The results presented indicate that in general the most interactive galactomannans are those in which the D-mannan main chain bears fewest D-galactose stubs, and confirm that the distribution of D-galactose groups along the main chain can have a significant effect on the interactive properties of the galactomannans. It has been shown that freeze - thaw precipitation of galactomannans requires regions of totally unsubstituted D-mannose residues along the main chain, and that a threshold for significant freeze - thaw precipitation occurs at a weight-average length of totally unsubstituted residues of approximately six. For galactomannans having structures above this threshold their interactive properties with other polysaccharides are controlled by structural features associated with totally unsubstituted regions of the D-mannan backbone. In contrast, for galactomannans below this threshold, their interactive properties are controlled by structural features associated with unsubstituted sides of D-mannan backbone.