5819. Melezitose
Nomenclature
CAS number: 597-12-6
O-α-d-Glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-d-fructofuranosyl-α-d-glucopyranoside. C18H32O16; mol wt 504.44.
C 42.86%, H 6.39%, O 50.75%.
Description and references
Trisaccharide built from 2 mols glucose and 1 mol fructose. Acid hydrolysis yields at first glucose and turanose. Occurs in a manna that forms upon the Douglas fir, jack pine (Pinus virginiana Mill., Pinaceae) and other trees. During periods of drought, bees collect it from the manna in sufficient quantity to change the character of the honey, making it unsuitable for maintaining the bees, but providing a source of melezitose: Hudson, Sherwood, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 42, 116 (1920). Procedure: Bates, Natl. Bur. Stand. Circ. C440, p 472 (1942). Structure: Hehre, Carlson, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 36, 158 (1952); Hehre, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. 8, 277 (1953). Review: E. B. Rathbone, Dev. Food Carbohydr. 2, 145-185 (1980).
