Some recent developments in the size and shape analysis of industrial polysaccharides in solution using sedimentation analysis in the analytical ultracentrifuge

摘要

1. There is now a renaissance of interest in the application of sedimentation methods to the study of food macromolecules and follows some significant developments in instrumentation. 2. These methods are particularly relevant to our understanding of the properties of industrial or 'commercial' polysaccharides, molecules which are inherently polydisperse and thermo-dynamically non-ideal. 3. This short review article attempts to establish the contribution that sedimentation velocity and sedimentation equilibrium are making to our understanding of the sizes, shapes and heterogeneity of industrially important polysaccharides in dilute solution and also indicates recent developments in the analysis of gels, diffusion through matrices and interactions involving these molecules. 4. The importance of combining information from sedimentation analysis with that from complementary techniques such as viscometry, light scattering and electron microscopy is stressed. 5. Comments about the potential impact of a new commercially available ultracentrifuge are given.