Cassia nodosa (Pink Cassia) Seed - A New Source of Commercial Gum

Cassia nodosa Buch.-Ham, ex Roxb. tree is found in abundance throughout India and can be grown easily in alkaline land without much care and investment. Its seeds are bigger in size containing 50-55 per cent of endosperm, which is easily separable by mechanical means . The physico-chemicals properties of the seed gum are as follows: Mn 4,73,00; Mw, 7,0 I ,000, Mz, I 0,80,00; Polidispersity 1.48; Intrinsic viscosity [ 111 for I g/1 solution at 25°C, 1210 mllg with k'= 0.55, Weight Average RMS Radius Movement 52.5 nm; Man nose/ galactose ratio 3.58 (HPLC) and 3.55 (GLC). The detail rheological studies of 0 .2 g/1 to 50 g/1 solutions reveal mainly three domains. Concentration of2 g/1 or below, where the Huggins Low applies is characterised as dilute regime. The critical value of shear rate sharply decreases with the increase of concentration between 2g/l to 15g/l identifying it semi-dilute regime. The concentrated regime corrosponds to above 15 g/1, where critical value of shear rate becomes less dependent on concentration. Methylation, periodate oxidation and NMR studies show that the hydrocolfoid has the basic structure of legume galactomannans having random block pattern side chain fine structure. The results indicate that Pink cassia gum possesses useful non-ionic properties comparable to other existing commercial seed gums and it could be exploited for industrial utilization .