Profiling of carbohydrate polymers in biotechnology using microdialysis sampling, high performance anion exchange chromatography with integrated pulsed electrochemical detection/mass spectrometry

Abstract

The analysis of carbohydrate polymers is very demanding and challenging because of the similar 
physical and chemical properties they possess. Enzymatic hydrolysis is employed to cleave the 
polymers. The use of enzymes in analytical chemistry requires an analytical system that has on-line 
capability, is fast, reproducible, robust, and offers sensitive detection. More importantly the system 
employed should offer in-situ sampling and sample clean-up so as to reduce the sample handling steps 
and the analysis time. One such system consists of microdialysis sampling, high performance anion 
exchange chromatography with integrated pulsed electrochemical detection/mass spectrometry. The 
on-line system offers sampling, sample clean-up, separation and detection of saccharides as a way of 
profiling carbohydrate polymers. The wealth of information attained include carbohydrate polymer 
sequencing, glycosidic linkages, anomericity and result in the unequivocal characterisation of the 
polymers. This review focuses on the applications of a total on-line system for the profiling of 
carbohydrate hydrolysates. The above-mentioned analytical system has been employed to 
carbohydrate polymers and hydrolysates from starch, lignocellulosic material and legumes.