Compositional features of polysaccharides from Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) plant tissues

A complete chemical characterisation of Aloe vera plant (Aloe barbadensis Miller) was carried out from the dissection of the plant whole leaves in filets and skin. In addition, a mucilaginous gel extracted from the filets was also characterised. Extraction with ethanol of lyophilised Aloe fractions (AIRs) allowed to concentrate the major fraction composed of carbohydrates up to 80%. The composition of the main type of polysaccharides present in the Aloe AIRs was determined. Mannose and cellulosic glucose were the major polysaccharide components in all AIRs, significant amounts of pectic polysaccharides were also detected. Sequential extraction of polysaccharides present in Aloe vera plant portions, revealed that two main types of mannose-containing polymers were present in the Aloe vera plant. The polysaccharide detected in the filet and in the gel fractions corresponded to a storage polysaccharide located within the protoplast of the parenchymatous cells. Its structural and compositional features corresponded to the active polysaccharide known as acemannan. On the contrary, in the skin tissue, the mannosyl residues arose from a structural polysaccharide located within the cell wall matrix. Structural and compositional differences between both polymers were confirmed by methylation analysis. The fact that acemannan is a reserve polysaccharide might help to explain most of the compositional variations reported in the literature for Aloe vera carbohydrates. Further, sequential extraction allowed us to identify several pectic polysaccharides, rich in uronic acids, with a composition similar to that of several antitumoral polymers found in different plant tissues. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.