DEFINITION

Dextran 40 is derived by controlled hydrolysis and fractionation of polysaccharides elaborated by the fermentative action of certain strains of Leuconostoc mesenteroides (NRRL, B.512 F; NCTC, 10817) on a sucrose substrate. It is a glucose polymer in which the linkages between glucose units are almost entirely of the α-1:6 type. Its weight average molecular weight is in the 35,000–45,000 range.