Physicochemical characterization of galactomannans extracted from seeds of Gleditsia sinensis Lam and fenugreek. Comparison with commercial guar gum.

Gleditsia sinensis, fenugreek and guar galactomannans (referred to as GSG, FG, and GG) were extracted from their gums and investigated using various techniques. Mannose to galactose ratios were 3.55, 1.11, and 1.65, respectively. The intrinsic viscosity of GSG was very close to that of GG, while that of FG was the lowest one. This was attributed to the influence of high galactose substitution of FG on the mannan backbone, which induced a lower chain dimension due to intermolecular entanglement. High degrees of substitution and high temperatures contributed to improving the solubility of galactomannan. Rheological behavior indicated that GG had the highest apparent viscosity, yet the power-law model could well-fitted the flow curves of GSG and FG, but not GG. Through morphological observations, the extracted galactomannans exhibited rod-like structure in deionized water and showed fibrous filament network structure after dehydration by freeze-drying. The thermal behavior was greatly influenced by the degree of side groups and Mw of galactomannans.