On hydrodynamic methods for the analysis of the sizes and shapes of polysaccharides in dilute solution: A short review

AbstractBackground ccharides and their derivatives are increasingly being used by the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries: physical properties like size and conformation are important contributors to their performance. sion he use of hydrodynamic tools such as sedimentation velocity, sedimentation equilibrium, size exclusion chromatography – multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS), and viscometry are considered highlighting some recent developments in methodology and the application of these to help better understand polysaccharide structure–function relationships. sions ze and shape of polysaccharides in solution can be estimated in a variety of ways. Molar masses and heterogeneities can be estimated to a good precision by sedimentation velocity, sedimentation equilibrium and SEC-MALS. An approximate idea of conformation and flexibility can be obtained from power-law coefficients and the Wales van Holde parameter. More sophisticated estimates can be obtained by combining methods together to yield the persistence length.