Polysaccharides of the cocoa pod husk

摘要

AbstractCocoa pod husk from Ghana was extracted successively with hot water, hot 0·5 anmonium oxalate, cold 10 potassium hydroxide, and hot 20 sodium hydroxide, and the various polysaccharide fractions isolated after dialysis. The hot‐water‐soluble fraction was examined by hydrolysis with 50 formic acid, quantitative determination of the component sugars, and characterisation of the sugars by preparation of crystalline derivatives. The major part of this fraction is a pectic material containing D‐galacturonic acid, D‐galactose, L‐rhamnose and L‐arabinose, but is contaminated with several other polysaccharides, notably a glucan and a mannan. The ammonium oxalate fraction is also a pectin but in a depolymerised form, while the main component sugar of the alkaline extracts is xylose. The insoluble husk residue is probably chief