Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) pectins are covalently cross-linked through diferulic bridges in the cell wall

After acid and enzymatic degradation of sugar beet cell walls and fractionation of the solubilized products by hydrophobic interaction chromatography, three dehydrodiferulate-rich fractions were isolated. The present work combines for the first time intensive mass spectrometry data and molecular modeling to give structural relevance of a molecular cohesion between arabinan and galactan side chains through diferulic bridges.