ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the characteristics of partial acid hydrolysis in five different plant polysaccharides and the composition of their hydrolysic products. Methods: Polysaccharides were partially hydrolyzed with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at different concentration (0.05, 0.2, and 0.5 mol/L), respectively, and the hydrolytic characteristics were studied by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with multivariate statistricts. Results: The characteristic structural segments of ephedra polysaccharide were the contents of glucuronic acid in trapped fluid hydrolyzed with 0.05 mol/L TFA (X1GlcUA), arabinose in permeation fluid hydrolyzed with 0.05 mol/L TFA (X2Ara), arabinose in trapped fluid hydrolyzed with 0.2 and 0.5 mol/L TFA (Y1Ara and Z1Ara), and galacturonic acid in the permeation fluid hydrolyzed with 0.2 mol/L TFA (Y2GalUA), which could distinguish other plant polysaccharide samples. Conclusion: The proposed method is precise and practical for the analysis on monosaccharide compositon in Chinese materia medica by UPLC coupled with multivariate statistics and partial acid hydrolytic reaction, which further provides the basis for the quality control of the plant polysaccharides.