Mucilage content and its sugar composition in Astragalus species from Iran

Abstract

Mucilage content and its sugar composition in leaflets of 15 species of Astragalus from Iran were examined. The mucilage content of different species varied from 3.44 to 23.56% dry weight. Mucilage content in some of the species of this genus is comparable with that of the richest sources of mucilage. The mucilages obtained from different species, all showed the presence of glucose, galactose, arabinose, xylose, fucose and rhamnose but in different amounts. In mucilages of 12 species glucose was the major monosaccharide and in 3 species galactose was the main constituent. The uronic acids were detected in 12 of the 15 species.