Here come ‘Galactomannans’

Ever heard of “galactomannans”?

These are not “galactic” warriors figuring in the “star wars.”

Galactomannans are natural components derived from makapuno that can contribute soluble fibers to a variety of food items: dairy, baking, and prepared foods such as sauces, spreads, and gravies so that they can have shape, thick-ening, mouthfeel, and product stabilization.

For instance, these compounds have the property to prevent ice cream from easily melting in cone. They can also maintain salad dressing in its right consistency.

A breakthrough in isolating commercial galactomannans from makapuno, a mutant coconut, has been achieved by Dr. Maria Judith Rodriguez of the Philippine Coconut Authority-Albay Research Center (PCA-ARC).

Makapuno can be a source of natural ingredient for food preparation as well as industrial applications, Dr. Rodriguez found in her study titled “Isolation, Characterization, and Utilization of Galactomannan from Makapuno”.

The study was monitored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Also now called “Mak gum” because it was drived from makapuno, galactomannans has also been tried as a raw material for the development of biodegradable film (biofilm) that can be used as wound gauze and wrapping material for food products.

Moreover, Mak gum has also been tested, with positive results, as an ingredient in the production of hand sanitizer and as substitute to, or combined with agarose or polyacrylamide, to lessen the expense of electrophorosis laboratory analysis. — Rudy A. Fernandez