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Title: ACIDOLYSIS AND HOT WATER EXTRACTION PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE COMPOSITION OF THE INDUCED "LIGNIN-LIKE MATERIAL" FROM SQUASH FRUIT

Author
item Stange, Richard
item Ralph, John
item Alessandro, Rocco
item Mayer, Richard

Submitted to: Phytochemistry
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2000
Publication Date: 6/20/2001
Citation: Richard R. Stange Jr.,John Ralph,Junpeng Peng,James J. Sims,Sharon L. Midland,Roy E. McDonald. Phytochemistry 57 (2001) p.1005-1011.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Acidolysis yields new findings on the chemical composition of the induced, lignin-like material, from squash fruit. R. R. STANGE (1), J. Ralph (2), R. Alessandro (1), R. T. Mayer (1) The accumulation of lignin-like material (L-LM) has been observed in many plants as a response to injury or disease. The consensus from studies of several plant systems, is that L-LM is an unusual type of lignin, rich in p-coumaryl alcohol derived subunits. Fruit tissue of winter squash, when elicited with pectinase and cured at warm temperatures and high RH, rapidly accumulates L-LM. Cell wall preparation from stem, fresh fruit, and elicited-cured fruit tissues were subjected to acidolysis and the products analyzed by TLC and GC-MS. Stem tissue yielded products typical of syringal-guaiacyl lignins. Fresh fruit tissue, containing little vascular lignin, yielded no detectable lignin-related products. Elicited-cured tissue yielded p- coumaryl aldehyde as the sole lignin-related product. This result is not consistent with the material being derived from p-coumaryl alcohol, but could indicate the material is a polymer of p-coumaryl aldehyde. The composition of L-LMs from other plants are currently being analyzed.