Polysaccharides from Sesamum indicum meal: Isolation and structural features

Defatted Sesamum indicum seed cake was extracted, following two separate sequences, and the effects of extraction medium on yield and composition of the extracts were compared. Polysaccharides extracted sequentially with dilute acid and alkali represented 250 mg/g of defatted meal. The isolated polymers contained arabinan, rhamnogalacturonan I (RG I) and arabinogalactan proteins. Polysaccharides extracted during chlorite treatment and with dilute alkali had a higher proportion of rhamnose, suggesting a more branched variety of polymer. Three extracts, which were further characterized by size exclusion chromatography, gave two overlapping peaks. Structural characterisation of hemicellulosic polysaccharides, isolated with KOH, using specific enzyme hydrolysis, ion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy, showed that sesame meal xyloglucan (XG) contained XXXG, XXFG and XXLG, and XLLG (named according to Fry et al., 1993) as the major building sub-units in the ratio of 1:0.9:0.3. Hydrolysis with endo-β-(1 → 4)-d-xylanase and analysis of the xylan derived oligosaccharides showed the presence of monomeric xylose (40%), xylobiose (46%) and acidic xylan oligosaccharides containing 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid residues (14%).