FT-IR study of the polysaccharides isolated from the skin juice, gel juice, and flower of Aloe vera tissues affected by fertilizer treatment

Fatemeh Nejatzadeh-Barandozi,Sattar Enferadi

doi:10.1186/2191-2858-2-33

Abstract

BackgroundThis experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different amounts of fertilizers on the polysaccharides of Aloe vera plant. There were four different treatments, viz. T1 = 150% N, T2 = 150% P, T3 = 150% K, and T4 = 150% NPK (50% N + 50% P + 50% K) soil. Crude water-soluble polysaccharides were isolated from the gel juice, skin juice, and flowers of A. vera planted in these soils.ResultsResult indicates that skin juice contained 2.4 times the level of polysaccharides in gel juice from one plant, suggesting the potential industrial application of A. vera skin rather than discarding it. After anion-exchange chromatography, neutral polysaccharides accounted for 58.1% and 78.5% of the total recovered neutral and acidic polysaccharide preparations from the gel juice and skin juice, respectively, whereas the crude flower polysaccharides were largely composed of weakly acidic polysaccharides (84.2%). Sugar analysis of the polysaccharides after gel permeation chromatography revealed that glucose and galactose were the most abundant monosaccharide in the neutral polysaccharides from the gel juice and skin juice, respectively. The acidic polysaccharides from the two juices consisted of glucuronic acid, galactose, glucose, mannose, and xylose with variable proportions.ConclusionsExcept glucuronic acid (15.4%) in flower acidic polysaccharide, the flower neutral and acidic polysaccharides contained galactose, glucose, and mannose as the main sugar components. Glucuronic acid was the major uronic acid in all acidic polysaccharides from different tissues.

Highlights

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different amounts of fertilizers on the polysaccharides of Aloe vera plant
We report the fractionation and chemical composition of polysaccharides isolated from the skin juice and flowers of A. vera effected by fertilizers
During the preparation of crude flower polysaccharide (CFP) compared with crude gel polysaccharide (CGP), the exhaustive extraction steps including deproteinization and decolorization are necessary due to the more complex composition in the flower as it was more contaminated with protein and colored materials or phenolic compounds

Summary

Introduction

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different amounts of fertilizers on the polysaccharides of Aloe vera plant. Aloe vera (Liliaceae), one of the most widely cultivated species of the genus Aloe in the world, has been widely used for medicines and cosmetics, and its chemical constituents have been studied [1-4], different properties being ascribed to the inner, colorless leaf gel and to the exudate produced by the bundle sheath cells on the outer margin of the leaf These major active ingredients, acting alone or in concert, include polysaccharides, glycoproteins, infiltrating exudate phenolics, and even, simplest of all, water. We report the fractionation and chemical composition of polysaccharides isolated from the skin juice and flowers of A. vera effected by fertilizers. The comparison of the chemical features of these polysaccharides with gel juice polysaccharides is taken into consideration

Methods

Results

Conclusion