A neutral β-d-glucan from dates of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L.

Polysaccharides extracted from Libyan dates with hot water and 0.05 M NaOH were fractionated and purified by ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography. According to the methylation and hydrolysis analyses, the results indicate the d-glucan to be linear and to contain both (1→3)- and (1→4)-linkages. The anomeric NMR measurements confirm that the sugar residues are β-glycosidically linked. This is the first report on the isolation of a neutral β-d-glucan from dates.