An efficient procedure for studying pectin structure which combines limited depolymerization and 13C NMR.

A protocol for partial thermally-induced depolymerization of differently methoxylated pectin samples is described. The resulting macromolecules have been fully characterized with various complementary techniques, such as size exclusion chromatography (SEC), potentiometry, viscometry and 13C NMR. Optimum conditions afford samples at 50-80% yield with weight-average molecular weights in the 4 to 20 kDa range. The major fraction of these polysaccharides adopts the random-coil conformation and such samples are suitable for 13C NMR structural studies at room temperature. The methoxyl distributions of two apple pectin samples with a degree of esterification (DE) between 54 and 74% and a citrus pectin (DE, 72%) were shown to be random in nature, whereas that of a lightly methoxylated apple pectin (DE 39%) was partially blockwise. The carbon relaxation parameters of the depolymerized pectins attain asymptotic values for Mw > 4 kDa. The Mw values estimated from intrinsic viscosity data with the Mark-Houwink relationship reported for native pectins are in good agreement with those obtained by either end-group analysis (NMR) or SEC. Thus, all the physicochemical data indicate that the secondary structure of the isolated chains of depolymerized pectin is closely related to that of the parent polymers. Finally, pectinmethylesterase activity towards the depolymerized pectins was similar to that of the untreated samples.