Preparation of a growth-promoting substance, lepidimoic acid, from okra pectic polysaccharide

Lepidimoic acid, a 1,2-cis-linked disaccharide, is an interesting plant growth-promoting substance and has been synthesized from d-glucose and l-rhamnose by Kosemura et al., 1993. Fry et al., 1993, in view of the biosynthetic origin, suggested that it could be produced by the cleavage of a pectic polysaccharide such as rhamnogalacturonan. In this study lepidimoic acid was prepared from okra (Hibiscus esculentus L.) pectic polysaccharide in a passable yield by sequential decomposition reactions. The plant growth-promoting activity of the prepared lepidimoic acid was confirmed.