A series of oligomeric glycans can be extracted from the cell walls of developing cotton fibers with weak acid. The same andsimilar glycans have also been extracted from developing and mature cotton fiber, cotton fabric, wood from different species,various types of paper products and marine algae. While many of the oligomers isolated from the various cellulose sourcesdisplay the same peaks when analyzed by high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection(HPAEC-PAD), the specific numbers of oligomers and their relative quantities appear unique for each source of cellulosicmaterial. Preparation of cotton fiber samples has been improved by homogenization of tissues using micromechanicalmeans (Pro 200 Homogenizer with Micro-Gen tip); and the variability among the samples reduced by optimizing extractionvolumes to compensate for the lower solubility of oligomeric products with higher degrees of polymerization (DPs). Usingthe refined sample preparation and extraction procedures, differences in the oligomer profile between samples of mature fibersof the cotton cultivars ‘DP-50’ and ‘Ultima’ have been demonstrated. In addition, the unique oligomeric profile of Ultimawas preserved during processing from raw cotton to finished fabric.
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