Separation of polysaccharides by thermal field-flow fractionation

Polysaccharides are complex polymers of great biological and industrial importance. The fractionation and determination of molecular weight distributions of these substances are required for many applications. Thermal field-flow fractionation (thermal FFF) is shown to be applicable to the separation and characterization of a variety of polysaccharides in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Samples of pullulans, dextrans, and Ficolls are readily fractionated according to differences in molecular weight Calibration plots have been developed to obtain molecular weight distributions More complex polysaccharides, such as starch and cellulose, have also been investigated. This study is complicated by the poor solubility of these materials. Nonetheless, starch can be successfully separated into amylose and amylopectin fractions, the latter consisting of an ultrahigh molecular weight polymer with a highly branched structure. A cationic corm starch has also been resolved into its components. These examples suggest that thermal FFF is widely applicable to polysaccharides. Copyright © 1994 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.