Separation and characterization of dextran extracted from deteriorated sugarcane

Dextran was extracted from deteriorated sugarcane by alcohol precipitation and purified by gel filtration chromatography. On the basis of all spectra, SC-Dex showed a branched polysaccharide contains only d-glucose residues in consecutive α-(1-6) linkages in the main chain with α-(1-3) branches. Several structural fragments were identified from MALDI-TOF spectrum with peak-to-peak mass difference of 162 g mol−1, confirmed that the repeat unit in SC-Dex was d-glucose. The surface morphology of SC-Dex, revealed the spherically shaped and, porous structure.