title: Galactomannan from the seeds of Mimosa scabrella: a scale-up process.
abstract: In view of the wide industrial applications of galactomannans as a thickening agent, those of Mimosa scabrella (bracatinga), a leguminous tree abundant in Southern Brazil, are under investigation. Seeds of bracatinga were processed on a pilot plant scale in order to obtain its galactomannan. The process consisted of successive milling, enzyme inactivation, aqueous extraction, precipitation of polysaccharide, and drying and milling. The product was obtained in 20% yield, with characteristics similar to those obtained on the laboratory scale, namely mannose:galactose ratio (M:G) 1.1:1.0 and intrinsic viscosity. Considering the seed availability in the metropolitan regions of Curitiba, it should be possible to obtain 3000 ton/year of this polysaccharide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba-PR, Brazil. ganter@bio.ufpr.br
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ganter
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaminski
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reicher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D001938:Brazil; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D005690:Galactose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D008351:Mannans / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000633:toxicity; D051379:Mice; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D008351:Mannans; C012990:galactomannan; D005690:Galactose