3.2.3 Plant Starches
Starches are the widely studied storage carbohydrates. The molecular structure of
starches comprises of 2 co-polymers: amylose (20–30%) and amylopectin (70–
80%) (Nayak and Pal 2012). Amylose is essentially linear with the glucose units
bound together through a-(1, 4)-linkages and very few a-(1, 6)-bonds. Amylose
chains have a degree of polymerization up to 6,000 dependent on source and a
molecular mass of 105–106 g/mol (Nayak and Pal 2017a). Amylopectin has a
molecular mass of 107–109 g/mol. It is highly branched with a-(1, 6)-bonds in the
branching points and has an average degree of polymerization of 2 million, making
it one of the largest molecules in nature (Malakar et al. 2013a; Nayak and Pal
2017a). Many starches are also being extracted from different plant resources as
these are occurred in various parts of these plant resources, such as seeds, cereals,
rhizomes, roots, tubers, corms, etc. (Builders and Arhewoh 2016). Starches are
exists as microscopic granules with characteristically origin-specific shapes and
sizes (Nayak and Pal 2017a).
The sources of some important plant starches, which have already been studied
for pharmaceutical applications, are listed in Table 3.3.
Table 3.2 Sources of some important plant mucilages for pharmaceutical applications
Plant mucilages
Common sources
Scientific name of the
plant
Family
Ispaghula mucilage
Plantago ovata
Plantaginaceae
Fenugreek seed mucilage
Trigonella
foenum-graecum
Fabaceae
Aloe mucilage
Aloe barbadensis
Liliaceae
Flaxseed mucilage
Linum usitatissimum
Linaceae
Mimosa pudica seed mucilage
Mimosa pudica
Mimosaceae
Spinacia oleraceae leaves mucilage
Spinacia oleraceae
Amaranthaceae
Basella alba leaves and stem mucilages
Basella alba
Basellaceae
Prosopis juliflora seed mucilage
Prosopis juliflora
Fabaceae
Hibiscus rosasinensis L. leaves mucilages
Hibiscus rosasinensis
Malvaceae
Basil seed mucilage
Ocimum basilicum
Lamiaceae
Clove basil seed mucilage
Ocimum gratissimum
Lamiaceae
Amaranthus viridis L. (Leotia) leaves
mucilage
Amaranthus viridis
Amaranthaceae
Yellow mustard seed mucilage
Sinapis alba
Brassicaceae,
Lepidium perfoliatum seed. mucilage
Lepidium perfoliatum
Brassicaceae
3 Plant Polysaccharides in Pharmaceutical Applications
97
Starches are the widely studied storage carbohydrates. The molecular structure of
starches comprises of 2 co-polymers: amylose (20–30%) and amylopectin (70–
80%) (Nayak and Pal 2012). Amylose is essentially linear with the glucose units
bound together through a-(1, 4)-linkages and very few a-(1, 6)-bonds. Amylose
chains have a degree of polymerization up to 6,000 dependent on source and a
molecular mass of 105–106 g/mol (Nayak and Pal 2017a). Amylopectin has a
molecular mass of 107–109 g/mol. It is highly branched with a-(1, 6)-bonds in the
branching points and has an average degree of polymerization of 2 million, making
it one of the largest molecules in nature (Malakar et al. 2013a; Nayak and Pal
2017a). Many starches are also being extracted from different plant resources as
these are occurred in various parts of these plant resources, such as seeds, cereals,
rhizomes, roots, tubers, corms, etc. (Builders and Arhewoh 2016). Starches are
exists as microscopic granules with characteristically origin-specific shapes and
sizes (Nayak and Pal 2017a).
The sources of some important plant starches, which have already been studied
for pharmaceutical applications, are listed in Table 3.3.
Table 3.2 Sources of some important plant mucilages for pharmaceutical applications
Plant mucilages
Common sources
Scientific name of the
plant
Family
Ispaghula mucilage
Plantago ovata
Plantaginaceae
Fenugreek seed mucilage
Trigonella
foenum-graecum
Fabaceae
Aloe mucilage
Aloe barbadensis
Liliaceae
Flaxseed mucilage
Linum usitatissimum
Linaceae
Mimosa pudica seed mucilage
Mimosa pudica
Mimosaceae
Spinacia oleraceae leaves mucilage
Spinacia oleraceae
Amaranthaceae
Basella alba leaves and stem mucilages
Basella alba
Basellaceae
Prosopis juliflora seed mucilage
Prosopis juliflora
Fabaceae
Hibiscus rosasinensis L. leaves mucilages
Hibiscus rosasinensis
Malvaceae
Basil seed mucilage
Ocimum basilicum
Lamiaceae
Clove basil seed mucilage
Ocimum gratissimum
Lamiaceae
Amaranthus viridis L. (Leotia) leaves
mucilage
Amaranthus viridis
Amaranthaceae
Yellow mustard seed mucilage
Sinapis alba
Brassicaceae,
Lepidium perfoliatum seed. mucilage
Lepidium perfoliatum
Brassicaceae
3 Plant Polysaccharides in Pharmaceutical Applications
97