Structural features of water-soluble arabinogalactans from Norway spruce and Scots pine heartwood

Isolated water-soluble acidic arabinogalactans from Norway spruce and Scots pine heartwood were analysed and compared to Siberian larch heartwood arabinogalactans. The carbohydrate monomer composition was determined by acid methanolysis and gas chromatography, while structural studies were performed by C-13 NMR spectroscopy and methylation analysis. The main structural features were found to be the same in the three types of arabinogalactans. However, the structure of the arabinogalactans from spruce and pine were found slightly different from the structure of larch arabinogalactans. The amount of single unit side-chains, consisting of arabinose and glucuronic acid units, was higher in the spruce and pine arabinogalactans than in the larch arabinogalactans. The amount of glucuronic acid was higher in the spruce arabinogalactans than in the pine arabinogalactans. The pine arabinogalactans had a higher amount of side chains with more than two sugar units than the spruce arabinogalactans.