Quantitative determination of saturated oligogalacturonic acids in enzymatic digests of polygalacturonic acid, pectin and carrot pomace by on-line LC-ESI-MS

A method for the quantitative determination of oligogalacturonic acids (OGAs) by on-line high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation and mass spectrometric detection via an electrospray interface (ESI-MS) without additional desalting steps was developed. Saturated OGAs up to a degree of polymerization (dp) of 3 were quantified by comparison with reference compounds. The calibration plots showed high linearity (R2>0.99), and the detection limits for dp 1, 2, and 3 were 11, 28, and 6 ng per injection, respectively. Non- and partially methyl-esterified OGAs with a dp of 3 and 4 were calculated semi-quantitatively as dp 3. The analytical system was used for the quantification of OGAs of digests obtained by incubation of polygalacturonic acid, pectin, and carrot pomace with commercial enzyme preparations. Furthermore, methyl-esterified OGAs up to a dp of 12 containing up to 4 methyl esters were detected in a pectin digest.