Structure of digalactosyldiacylglycerol from oats

• Published in: Chemistry and physics of lipids Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 97 - 102
• Main Authors: Hauksson, Jón B, Bergqvist, Magnus H.J, Rilfors, Leif
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 22-10-1995
• Subjects: Avena - chemistry; Carbohydrate Conformation; Carbohydrate Sequence; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Digalactosyldiacylglycerol; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Galactolipids; Glycolipid structure; Glycolipids - chemistry; Glycolipids - isolation & purification; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecular Structure; NMR; Oats; Stereoisomerism; Digalactosyldiacylglycerol; Glycolipid structure; NMR; Oats
• ISSN: 0009-3084; 1873-2941
• DOI: 10.1016/0009-3084(95)02483-Y

Digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGalDAG) is one of the major lipids in the cells of higher plants. DGalDAG forms a lamellar liquid crystalline phase together with water. Lipid aggregates can thus be prepared which are of potential interest for use within the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Oats may be an important source for preparation of DGalDAG, but the structure has not been determined for the DGalDAG lipid occurring in this plant. In the present study the structure of a high-purity DGalDAG preparation, isolated from commercial oat flakes, was determined by high resolution
1H- and
13C-NMR spectroscopy. The lipid was found to have the structure 1,2-diacyl-3-
O-[
α-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-
O-
β-galactopyranosyl]-glycerol. By using
13C-NMR spectroscopy techniques it is thus possible to determine, among other things, the identity of the glycosyl moieties in the polar head group, to establish the linkage positions between these moieties, and to establish the anomeric configurations of the moieties, without making any chemical modifications of the lipid.