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. 1965 Dec;97(3):794–801. doi: 10.1042/bj0970794

The origins of tannins and flavonoids in black-wattle barks and heartwoods, and their associated `non-tannin' components

H M Saayman 1, D G Roux 1
PMCID: PMC1264761  PMID: 5881667

Abstract

1. The distributions of flavonoid, carbohydrate, amino acid and imino acid components in the leaves, twig bark, stem bark, root bark and heartwoods of the black-wattle tree were compared by paper chromatography after their isolation from specific portions of the tree. 2. Wattle leaves contain mainly myricitrin, (+)-gallocatechin, an unknown myricetin glycoside and leuco-delphinidin tannins, together with smaller amounts of (+)-catechin, quercitrin and other flavonol glycosides. These are prominent in the twig bark, but decline progressively with age in the stem bark and are absent from root bark. 3. The non-phenolic components of the mature stem bark were shown to be (+)-pinitol, sucrose, glucose, fructose, l(−)-pipecolic acid, trans-4-hydroxy-l(−)-pipecolic acid, α-alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, l(−)-proline, serine, a `steroid' alcohol and a long-chain β-diketone. 4. Wattle bark and heartwood `tannins' consist of the analogues of closely related prototypes with common origins in the vascular tissues of the bark. Leaf `tannins' are superimposed on the bark components mainly during the initial stages of bark growth. 5. Origins of the pipecolic acids and the transformations of carbohydrates in the sap- and heart-woods are discussed.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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