Pinitol is a cyclitol

Cyclitol

Cyclitols are cycloalkanes containing one hydroxyl group on three or more ring atoms. They are cyclic polyols. Cyclitols are one of the compatible solutes which are formed in a plant as a response to salt or water stress...

, a cyclic polyol

Polyol

A polyol is an alcohol containing multiple hydroxyl groups. In two technological disciplines the term "polyol" has a special meaning: food science and polymer chemistry.- Polyols in food science :...

. It is a known anti-diabetic agent isolated from Sutherlandia frutescens

Sutherlandia frutescens

Sutherlandia frutescens is a southern African legume shrub with bitter, aromatic leaves. Red-orange flowers appear in spring.-External links:*...

leaves. Gall

Gall

Galls or cecidia are outgrowths on the surface of lifeforms caused by invasion by other lifeforms, such as parasites or bacterial infection. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues and can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites...

 plant tannins can be differentiated by their content of pinitol.

Certain variants of the bacteria Pseudomonas putida

Pseudomonas putida

Pseudomonas putida is a gram-negative rod-shaped saprotrophic soil bacterium. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. putida has been placed in the P. putida group, to which it lends its name....

have been used in organic synthesis

Organic synthesis

Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has...

, the first example being the oxidation of benzene

Benzene

Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....

, employed by Prof. S. V. Ley in the synthesis of (+/-)pinitol.

Glycosides

Ciceritol

Ciceritol

Ciceritol is a cyclitol. It is a pinitol digalactoside that can be isolated from seeds of chickpea, lentil and white lupin....

 is a pinitol digalactoside that can be isolated form seeds of chickpea

Chickpea

The chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...

, lentil

Lentil

The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...

 and white lupin.

A cyclitol derivative can be found in the marine sponge Petrosia sp.