Cassia seeds

The conversion of D-mannose 6-phosphate into D-mannosyl phosphate is catalyzed by phosphomannomutase, an enzyme distinct from phosphoglucomutase. Both enzymes have been detected by Mathe-son705 in cassia seeds, mung beans, orchid tubers, and pea seedlings. These enzymes from cassia seeds have been separated from one another by chromatography on DEAE- and O-phosphono-cellulose columns, and further characterized. Phosphomannomutase from animal sources requires the presence of either D-galactose 1,6-bisphosphate or D-mannose 1,6-bisphosphate for activity.708 D-Mannosyl phosphate may then be enzymically transformed into GDP-D-mannose in the... 

Zhang, Z, Yu, B, Total synthesis of the antiallergic naphtho-a-pyrone tetraglucoside, cassiaside C2, isolated from cassia seeds, J. Org. Chem., 68, 6309-6313, 2003. 

Hatano T, Uebayashi H, Ito H, Shiota S, Tsuchiya T, Yoshida T. Phenolic constituents of Cassia seeds and antibacterial effect of some naphthalenes and anthraquinones on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Chem Pharm Bull 1999 47 1121-7. 

Cassia Seed Gums A Renewable Reservoir for Synthesizing High Performance Materials for Water Remediation... 

Keywords Cassia seed gums, vinyl modification, water remediation, dyes, metal ions... 

The following sections summarize some of the studies where Cassia seed gums have been utilized as flocculants for dye removal. 

Cassia Seed Gums Based Metal Sorbents... 

Many other Cassia seed gums have been modified and the properties of the grafted seed gums, such as the viscosity of the gum solutions, and saline and water retention, have been studied to explore the possibility of their exploitation. 

Another Cassia seed gum which has been modified is Cassia occidentalis (CO) Linn. Kasondi is a common herbaceous annual weed that grows throughout India up to an altitude of 1500 m (101). Every part of the plant is used in different applications in the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine. The pods are 10-13 cm long and up to 0.8 cm in diameter and contain dark olive green seeds. The C. occidentalis seeds are a rich source of galactomannan (w 30% endosperm) [102]. The structure of the backbone of the seed polysaccharide has (3(1—>4) linked D-mannopyranose with random distribution of a(l—>6) linked D-galactopyranose units as side chain (M/G 3.1) (103-105). C. occidentalis seed gum has potential use because of its wide availability. The modification of the C. occidentalis gum chemically via carbamoylethylation under a variety of conditions has been attempted in order to improve its solubility. 

This chapter has elaborated how the properties of Cassia seed gums in general can be tailored by chemical modification, whereupon they can be exploited as useful dye flocculants and heavy metal adsorbents depending upon their solubility in water. 

The disposal of the spent adsorbent and recovery of dye/metal ions from it needs to be addressed in more detail. However, the presence of a natural food source with the dye molecules may aid the biodegradation of the dyes in subsequent processes. In any case, the disposal of such adsorbent/dye/metal ion complex would be preferable to the disposal of complexes with alum, silicates, or activated carbon. As such, there is a requirement for these proposed adsorbents to be able to perform at higher concentrations. Furthermore, such higher concentration studies related to adsorption isotherms would provide further insight into the mechanisms and capacity for adsorption of dyes on Cassia seed gums. 

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