The Behaviour and Identification of a Range of Starch and Starch‐Related Oligosaccharides Series on Gel Permeation Chromatography as a Function of Their Molecular Shapes

Abstract

The elution behaviour on gel permeation chromatography of a wide range of oligosaccharides which differ in glycosidic linkage has been investigated using a high resolution column of Bio-Gel P2 (-400 mesh). The elution behaviour could be explained on size exclusion mechanisms resulting from the secondary and tertiary structures of oligosaccharides brought about by the nature of the glycosidic linkages concerned. The various series of oligosaccharides followed an order in which starch-derived materials were more included in the gel than oligosaccharides derived from other polysaccharides. The overall order was cyclomalto-<malto-< (2 + 6)-p-~-fructo-<isomal-to< (2 c* l)-p-D-fructo-<gentio-<cello-oligosaccharides more speci-The particular behaviour of linear malto-oligosaccharides and the different behaviour of isomaltose makes the method still of great use for the assessment of starch-derived materials, including branch point residues. Specific size exclusion mechanisms were found not to operate for methyl ether or glycoside derivatives of monosaccharides although Bio-Gel P2 could be of limited use in methylation analysis and methyl glycoside separations.