Rhamnose

Rhamnose is a naturally-occurring deoxy sugar. It can be classified either as a methyl-pentose or a 6-deoxy-hexose. Rhamnose occurs in nature in its L-form as L-rhamnose (6-deoxy-L-mannose). This is unusual since most of the naturally-occurring sugars are in D-form. Exceptions are the methyl pentoses L-fucose and L-rhamnose and the pentose L-arabinose.

L-Rhamnose can be isolated from Buckthorn (Rhamnus) and poison sumac. It is also found as a glycoside in a variety of other plants.

Rhamnose is a component of the outer cell membrane of acid-fast bacteria in the Mycobacterium genus, which includes the organsism that causes tuberculosis.