Identification of Sugars in the Manna of Northern Iraq

Abstract

MANNA is found in the Middle East in the Sinai peninsula and in Northern Iraq. Bodenheimer and Theodor¹ claimed that the manna they found on the leaves of Tamarix in Sinai is the excretion of the scale insects Trabutina mannipara and Najacoccus serpentinus. However, it is generally believed in northern Iraq (Allos, H. F., private communication) that manna is an exudate of Fraxinus ornus L. (West, W. A., private communication), probably from insect-produced wounds. The exudate usually accumulates on the leaves until they fall to the ground. The sugars are extracted from the raw material with boiling water and mixed with eggs to make a popular dessert. While sucrose and invert sugar have been identified in manna collected from Sinai², the Iraqi manna was shown to contain sucrose and melezitose³ as well as trehalose⁴.