Polysaccharides

LH 21 is a low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose. It is produced by the fluorination of cellulose, followed by substitution with a variety of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides to produce a complex carbohydrate. LH 21 is synthesized for custom needs, glycosylated, methylated, and modified at the sugar level with click chemistry. It has a CAS No. 9004-64-2 and is Carbohydrate in nature. LH 21 has high purity and can be used in many applications including as an excipient or additive in pharmaceutical formulations.

Pectin is a highly complex polysaccharide matrix that is found in the primary walls of dicotyledenous and monocotyledenous plants and gymnosperms, including potato. A key fragment of this complex is rhamnogalacturonan I, containing a backbone of the repeating disaccharide  [-4)-α-D-GalpA-(1,2)-α-L-Rhap-(1,]. Several applications for RG1 have been described including drug targeting to the colon via the oral administration route for local treatment of e.g. inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.  This has several advantages such as needle-free administration and low infection risk. In the gastro-intestinal tract RG-I is only degraded by the action of the colonic microflora. High purity rhamnogalacturonan I is also used in research, biochemical enzyme assays and in vitro diagnostic analysis.

Dextran is α-(1,6)-linked α-D-glucan with α-(1,3)-linked glucose branch points produced by fermentation of Leuconostoc mesenteroides via the action of the enzyme dextransucrase on sucrose.  The main use for native dextran is as an extender in blood transfusions and products having a range of sharp cutoff molecular weights are produced commercially for this and other applications.  A complex of iron with dextran, known as iron dextran, is used as a source of iron for baby piglets which are often anaemic at birth.

Glycogen is a highly branched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals and fungi. It is the main storage form of glucose in the body.  In humans, glycogen is made and stored primarily in liver and muscle cells and functions as the second most important energy storage molecule to fat, which is held in adipose tissue. Glycogen is analogous to starch and has a structure similar to amylopectin, but is more extensively branched and compact than starch. It occurs as granules in the cytosol/cytoplasm in many cell types, and plays an important role in the glucose cycle.

Sodium carboxymethyl dextran is a white, odourless and tasteless powder, which is freely soluble in water or electrolyte solutions. Applications that have been described for carboxymethyl dextran include carriers of paramagnetic contrast agents, preparation of conjugates of pharmacologically active compounds and carboxymethyl dextrans in biosensors.  A number of other uses in cosmetics, agriculture, foods, paints and textiles have been the subject of patent applications.

Polydextrose is a synthetic polymer of glucose. It is a food ingredient classified as soluble fibre by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as Health Canada, as of April 2013. It is frequently used to increase the non-dietary fibre content of food, to replace sugar, and to reduce calories and fat content. It is a multi-purpose food ingredient synthesized from dextrose (glucose), plus about 10 percent sorbitol and 1 percent citric acid. Its E number is E1200. It was approved by FDA in 1981.

Inulin is a prebiotic dietary fibre with a mildly sweet taste that promotes digestive health by supporting growth of healthy and balanced microbiota. In diagnostics, inulin is used for determining the glomerular filtration rate in functional kidney testing. Chemically, inulin is a chain of fructose molecules terminated at the reducing end with glucose. Thus, inulin is a fructan consisting of linear chains of β-(2,1) linked fructose residues, terminated at the reducing end by an α-D-(1,2)-glucopyranoside moiety.  It has a degree of polymerization typically between 2 and 60 (5). The β-(2,1) bond in inulin resists digestion in the gastrointestinal tract and is therefore responsible for its lower caloric value and beneficial effects on colon microbiota. A more functional form of inulin is produced by removing all fractions with chain lengths lower than 10.