Biochem/physiol Actions L-Arabinose is the naturally occurring isomer and is a constituent of plant polysaccharides. Most bacteria contain an inducible arabinose operon that codes for a series of enzymes and transporters that allows L-arabinose to be used as the sole carbon source in microbial culture. Application L-Arabinose is used as a substrate to identify, differentiate and characterize pentose sugar isomerase(s). L-Arabinose is used in the bioproduction of L-ribose.