Optimizing microwave-assisted hydrolysis conditions for monosaccharide composition analyses of different polysaccharides

Releasing all monosaccharides during acid hydrolysis for composition analysis of polysaccharides has been a time consuming process. In current study, an efficient (10 μL sample + 10 μL acid), sensitive, and quick monosaccharide composition analysis of polysaccharides was accomplished by using microwave-assisted HCl hydrolysis (10 min) of the polysaccharides followed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) combined with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) analysis. Compared to the conventional hydrolysis procedure, this method is an efficient approach for monosaccharide composition analysis of acidic, basic, and neutral polysaccharides and particularly suited to polysaccharides that are difficult to hydrolyse fully such as chitosan, heparin and chondroitin sulfates.