Studies on the more soluble complexes of soil organic matter. 2. The composition of the soluble polysaccharide fraction

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Ash-free polysaccharide complexes have been obtained from widely different pedological, vegetational and climatic types of soil. All the polysaccharide prepns. have very similar properties. All contain the same sugars, galactose, glucose, mannose, arabinose, xylose, and glucuronic acid, although the proportions, especially of the pentoses, vary to some extent in different samples. All contain small amts. of N and ribose, presumably as ribonucleic acid, suggestive of a microbial origin. From a humus-rich agric. soil a polysaccharide complex has been isolated in relatively large quantity and the constituent sugars detd. both by paper chromatography and by specific precipitants. The results agree well with a repeating unit containing galactose (2 mol.); glucose (2 mol.); mannose (2 mol.); arabinose (1 mol.); xylose (3 mol.); 2 mol. of an aldobionic acid consisting of glucose and glucuronic acid. Mild hydrolysis of the polysaccharide gave an arabinose-free polysaccharide containing galactose (2 mol.); glucose (2 mol.); mannose (2 mol.); xylose (3 mol.); the aldobionic fraction as before. The oxidation of both the original and the degraded poly-saccharides with K metaperiodate has been studied.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: