Lichenin

Fixed

Lichenin, lichens or moss starch starch, is a colorless, tasteless polysaccharide which occurs as a storage carbohydrate in various lichens and mosses, and in lesser amounts in vascular plants. In high concentrations, it can be found for example in Iceland moss ( Cetraria islandica ) and in the beard lichen ( Usnea ). Add oats and barley lichenin can make six to eight percent of the dry matter in wheat and rye more than about two percent.

Chemical Properties

Chemically lichenin an unbranched polysaccharide of glucose, similar to cellulose, but it contains β -1 → 4 -glycosidic linkages about 30% of 1 → 3- glycosidic branches. In contrast to cellulose, it is soluble in water and gives the boiling water in a colloidal solution, which is why it is counted in the nutritional sciences to the gums.