Chemical Properties
L-Rhamnopyranose is also known as mannose methyl sugar. It is a methyl five-carbon sugar. There are two isomers of L-type and D-type. The [α]D16.5 of D-rhamnose in water is -8.25°, The [α]D15 of L-rhamnose is +9.1°. L-rhamnose is a type of deoxyhexose, namely 6-de-oxy L-mannose, which is a component of plant cell walls and various glycosides. α formula: colorless crystal. Those crystallized from aqueous solutions are crystals containing crystal water. The melting point is 105°C. Soluble in water and methanol. There are optical activity and mutarotation phenomenon. The abundance in marine plankton is generally greater than arabinose. It is also present in sea water, particulate matter and sediments. It can exist in free or combined form.
Uses
L-Rhamnose monohydrate is the composition of plum leaf polysaccharides.
L-Rhamnose characteristic a sweet and slightly bitter taste similar to that of D-mannose. which is a typical 6-deoxyhexose, it has been found that sugar chains comprising various monosaccharides have physiological activities. Thus, there have been attempts to utilize these sugar chains as materials for pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals. L-Rhamnose or its derivatives are sometimes used as the components of these sugar chains. Also it would be furthermore expected to be available as a material for a reaction flavor since it would under the Maillard reaction with an amino acid to thereby generate a characteristic smell.
