Larches

Larch Gum. Larch gum [37320-79-9] (larch arabinogalactan) is obtained by water extraction of the western larch tree, iLarix occidentalism the heartwood of which contains 5—35% on a dry wood basis. In the early 1960s, a countercurrent hot water extraction system was developed, and the gum was produced commercially by the St. Regis Paper Co. under the trade name Stractan. The potential production capacity of this gum is 10,000 t/yr based on the wood residues from the lumber industry. However, the product could not compete with gum arabic, and commercial production is now limited to small batches for a specific medical appHcation. 

Larch gum is readily soluble in water. The viscosity of these solutions is lower than that of most other natural gums and solutions of over 40% soHds are easily prepared. These highly concentrated solutions are also unusual because of their Newtonian flow properties. Larch gum reduces the surface tension of water solutions and the interfacial tension existing in water and oil mixtures, and thus is an effective emulsifying agent. As a result of these properties, larch gum has been used in foods and can serve as a gum arabic substitute. 

Larch arabinogalactan is approved in 21 CFR 172.610 as a food additive for use as an emulsifier, stabilizer, binder or bodying agent for essential oils and noimutritive sweeteners, flavor bases, nonstandardized dressings, and pudding mixes. It has also been used in the preparation of cosmetic and pharmaceutical dispersions and as an emulsifier in oil—water emulsions (69). Industrially, the main use has been in Hthography as a gum arabic substitute. 

Eor practical purposes, the sapwood of all species may be considered to be susceptible to biodeterioration. The heartwood of some species, however, contains toxic extractives that protect it against biological attack. Among the native species that have decay-resistant or highly decay-resistant heartwood are bald cypress, redwood, cedars, white oak, black locust, and black walnut (60). Douglas-fir, several of the pines, the larches, and honey locust... 

Impermeable timbers have a good resistance to polluted atmospheres where acid fumes rapidly attack steel. Wood has given excellent service in the buildings of chemical works and railway stations. Permeable wood species and sapwood can suffer defibration problems caused by the sulphur dioxide of industrial atmospheres. Tile battens are particularly vulnerable. The heartwood of Douglas fir, pitch pine, larch, Scots pine/European redwood and many tropical hardwoods give good service in these conditions. 

Materials produced by crystalliferous bacilli which elicit a toxic response in susceptible insects may be separated into two types. The first type, the true toxins, include the crystalline protein inclusion body the parasporal body of Hannay (14)], a heat-stable, water-soluble exotoxin active against flies, a heat-stable, dialyzable water-soluble exotoxin, toxic to Lepidoptera on injection (23), and a heat-labile, water-soluble, filterable exotoxin, toxic toward larch sawfly larvae (Hymenoptera) which was reported by Smirnoff (31). 

Type 3. A heat-labile material, toxic on ingestion to several species of larch sawfly (31). 

The exotoxin reported by Smirnoff (31) is definitively different from other soluble toxins, as indicated by its reported heat lability. This soluble toxin was obtained from the supernatant of a sporulated B. thuringiensis culture. In testing, it was found to be very toxic by ingestion to 18 species of larch sawfly larvae. No further studies on this toxin have been reported at this time. 

Mortality in larch sawfly larvae May be partially responsible for gut cell destruction... 

Within the scope of this review, the contributions of the last decade concerning cell-wall polysaccharides isolated from woody and other plant tissues will be reviewed according to the above-proposed classification of hemicelluloses including larch arabinogalactans. The present review article updates and extends previous reviews [3-5] and will focus in particular on new investigated plant sources, isolation methods, structural features, physicochemical and various functional properties of hemicelluloses. Attention will also be paid to the modification of isolated hemicelluloses or hemicellulosic materials and the appHcation possibiUties of hemicelluloses and their derivatives, including their use for the production of composite materials and other biomaterials. 

AG type II is most abundant in the heartwood of the genus Larix and occurs as minor, water-soluble components in softwoods. Certain tree parts of western larch (I. occidentalis) were reported to contain up to 35% AG [378]. The polysaccharide is located in the lumen of the tracheids and ray cells. Consequently, it is not a cell-wall component and, by definition, not a true hemicellulose. However, it is commonly classified as such in the field of wood and pulping research. This motivated us to include the larch AG in the review. 

During the last decade, the larch AG, known as larch gum in food applications, has produced emerging commercial and scientific interest, which follows closely upon recent reports related to the beneficial physiological effects of the commercial larch AG and its immunomodulatory properties [379,380]. 

A prehminary study of the use of larch AGs in aqueous two-phase systems [394] revealed that this polysaccharide provides a low-cost alternative to fractionated dextrans for use in aqueous two-phase, two-polymer systems with polyethylene glycol (PEG). The narrow molecular-weight distribution (Mw/Mn of 1-2) and low viscosity at high concentration of AG can be exploited for reproducible separations of proteins under a variety of conditions. The AG/PEG systems were used with success for batch extractive bioconversions of cornstarch to cyclodextrin and glucose. 

A monograph on the larch arabinogalactan has been published, containing pharmacokinetics, clinical indications, the lack of side-effects and dosage [60]. In a report from 2003, the effect over time of in-vivo administration of the larch arabinogalactan on the immune and hemopoietic cell... 

Fig. 7 Structure of the Arabinogalactan type II polymer from Larch...

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