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Abstract
In many plants, a portion of the polysaccharides appears to have a very low degree of cross-linking with aromatic polymers such as lignin or flavolans. The proportion of cross-linked units may be enriched for study by enzymatically hydrolyzing the nonbonded carbohydrates. A convenient method is described for the simultaneous analysis of sugar content and apparent chain length of the oligosaccharidic fragments remaining after enzymatic hydrolysis. The analysis assumes attachment to the phenolic polymers by nonglycosidic linkages. The hemiacetal ends of the oligosaccharidic fragments are reduced with sodium borohydride while the fragments are still attached to the phenolic polymer. After acid hydrolysis, monomeric sugars are reduced with sodium borodeuteride. The mixed isotopic products are analyzed as their alditol acetate derivatives by capillary GC/MS with selected ion monitoring. The isotopic ratioing procedure is detailed and the precision determined. The method is accurate to 1 monomeric unit for oligosaccharide chain lengths of less than 10.
Citation
Minor, James L.; Pettersen, Roger C. 1987. Mass spectrometric method to determine the chain length of oligosaccharides attached to phenolic polymers by nonglycosidic linkages. Journal of agriculture and food chemistry. Vol. 35, no. 6 (1987): pages 993-996.
