Kestose And Neokestose Research Paper

The main trisaccharides (raffinose, kestoses and theanderose) isolated from cane sugar are composed primarily of a monosaccharide molecule (glucose/fructose/galactose) bonded to a molecule of sucrose. The kestoses (1-, 6- and neo-) are composed of a fructose molecule attached to a sucrose molecule (Figure 6). The kestoses (1-kestose, 6-kestose and neokestose) are formed by the addition of a fructosyl residue to a sucrose molecule. The emergence of the different kestose isomers arises from the substitution of the fructosyl residue on any one of the three primary alcohol groups on the sucrose molecule (Suzuki & Chatterton, 1993). The 6-kestose isomer arises from the glycosidic linkage of the fructose residue of sucrose in position 6 to an additional fructose molecule in the 2β position (6→2β) (Heldt, H. & Heldt, F,
1997).
Similiarly, the 1-kestose isomer is formed from the glycosidic linkage between fructose residue of sucrose in position 1 to the incoming fructosyl residue in the 2β position (1→2β). The neo-kestose isomer is formed from the attachment of a fructosyl residue from the 2β postion to position 6 of the glucose residue of sucrose (Heldt, H. & Heldt, F, 1997). Raffinose is composed of a galactose molecule attached to sucrose while theanderose is composed of a glucose molecule attached to sucrose (Figure 7). Theanderose is a trisaccharide and is referred to as a 6-α-glucopyranosyl-sucrose because the alpha hydroxyl group of a glucosyl residue is attached to position 6 of the glucose component of the sucrose (Figure 7). Raffinose is a trisaccharide composed of glucose, galactose and fructose (Figure 7). This trisaccharide is formed by the attachment of D-galactose to the D-glucose residue of sucrose forming an alpha-(1→6) linkage (Abe et al.,
2012).