Isolation and structural characterization of chondroitin sulfate from bony fishes.

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) was purified from the bones of common fishes, monkfish, cod, spiny dogfish, salmon and tuna, and characterized in an effort to find alternative sources and new peculiar structures of this complex biomacromolecule utilized in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry. Quantitative analyses yielded a CS content ranging from 0.011% for cod up to 0.34% for monkfish. The disaccharide pattern showed the presence of nonsulfated disaccharide, monosulfated species ΔDi6s and ΔDi4s, and disulfated disaccharides in different percentages. The disulfated species ΔDi2,6dis was present in all CS extracts in a range of 1.3-10.5%. The presence of these disulfated disaccharides may be a useful marker for the marine origin of CS. The newly identified sources would certainly enable the production of CS with unique disaccharide composition and properties.