Mucilage cell content

The closely related mucilages are widely distributed in intercellular material and in the cell contents, and they possess the same type of molecular structure as the gums. Mucilages may be either neutral or acidic (when uronic acid residues are present). Again, little is known of the finer details of molecular structure and it is often difficult to prove whether or not the material is homogeneous. 

Mucilage is formed in plants in several ways, viz. either as a product of the protoplasm, as a disorganization product of some of the carbohydrates, as a secondary thickening or addition to the cell wall, or as a metamorphosis of it. In the first two cases the mucilage is called cell-content mucilage, in the last two, membrane mucilage. 

Cell-content mucilage has been found in the leaves of Aloe, the rhizomes of Triticum, the bulb scales of Squill and Onion and in certain cells of many other Monocotyledons, especially those containing raphides. 

---