ICELAND MOSS

Chemical properties

A water-soluble gum that gels on cooling.

Chemical properties

Iceland moss is a perennial plant (lichen) with an erect, branched, gray-greenish thallus. Approximately 12 cm (5 in.) high, the plant grows in rocky areas, woods and on the bark of conifers in Europe, Iceland, Scandinavia, Greenland, North America and Asia. It is harvested throughout the year. The part used is the thallus. Iceland moss has a bitter, tonic taste and an aromatic odor

Occurrence

Iceland moss is a lichen found in Iceland and other parts of the Northern hemisphere.

The Uses of ICELAND MOSS

Flavoring for alcoholic beverages, food additive, cosmetics.

Composition

The main constituents of the dried product include lichenin, isolichenin, lichenic acids, fatty acid lactones, furan derivatives and terpene derivatives. A polysaccharide, Ci-3, resembling isolichenan except with a much higher degree of polymerization, has been isolated from the water extract, as well as from the alkali extract, of the lichen C. islandica (L.). The structure of Ci-3 was elucidated and found to be composed of (1→3)- and (1→4)-α-D-glucopyranosyl units in the ratio of 2:1.