CONTENT AND DYNAMICS OF FRUCTOSE-CONTAINING CARBOHYDRATES IN SPECIES OF THE CAMPANULACEAE JUSS.

The peculiarities of accumulation of fructose-containing carbohydrates (fructans) in underground organs of eight Campanulaceae species were investigated. For 7 from the 8 studied species, high accumulation of fructose-containing carbohydrates was shown, primarily with a high degree of polymerization – polyfructans (from 35–40 to 50%). It is comparable with the fructans content in species of the Asteraceae, the richest in these compounds, or exceeds it. The amount of polyfructans in all studied species was minimal during the regrowth period, and then increased significantly during intensive growth and budding. Thus, the periods of active growth and fructans accumulation occurred simultaneously, and were not separated in time. This sharply distinguishes these species from representatives of other families of the class Magnoliopsida, studied by us earlier - Asteraceae and Boraginaceae, in which the processes of growth and fructans accumulation did not coincide in time. The fructan polymerization index in the studied Campanulaceae species is quite high throughout the growing season. During fruiting – the beginning of the dying off of the aboveground part, it varies within the range of 0.85 – 1.0. This distinguishes them from the previously studied species of other families, in which polymerization index significantly decreased during active growth and budding. Thus, Campanulaceae species are apparently of considerable theoretical and practical interest as promising sources of fructose-containing carbohydrates.