Lichenine

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Structural formula
Beta-1,3-1,4-glucan
General
Surname Lichenine
CAS number 1402-10-4
Monomers / partial structures glucose
properties
Physical state

firmly

safety instructions
GHS labeling of hazardous substances
no classification available
H and P phrases H: see above
P: see above
As far as possible and customary, SI units are used. Unless otherwise noted, the data given apply to standard conditions .

Lichenin , also known as lichen starch or moss starch, is a colorless and tasteless polysaccharide , more precisely a glucan , which occurs as a storage carbohydrate in various lichens and mosses and in smaller quantities in vascular plants . It is found in high concentrations in Icelandic moss ( Cetraria islandica ) and in beard lichens ( Usnea ) , for example . In oats and barley, lichenine can make up 6 to 8 percent of the dry matter, in wheat and rye a maximum of around 2 percent.

Chemical properties

Chemically, lichenine is an unbranched polysaccharide of glucose , similar to cellulose , but besides β-1 → 4-glycosidic linkages it contains about 30% 1 → 3-glycosidic branches. In contrast to cellulose, it is water soluble and gives in boiling water in a colloidal solution, which is why it to the nutrition science to the mucilage is counted. Because the β-1 → 4 linkages make the lichenine indigestible, lichenine is also a fiber .

literature

  • Robert Ebermann, Ibrahim Elmadfa: Textbook food chemistry and nutrition . Springer, Heidelberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-211-48649-8 .
  • R. Hegnauer: Chemotaxonomy of Plants: VOL 1: Thallophyten, Bryophyten, Pteridophyten und Gymnospermen . Birkhäuser, 1962, ISBN 978-3-7643-0164-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. This substance has either not yet been classified with regard to its hazardousness or a reliable and citable source has not yet been found.