Direct quantification of M/G ratio from (13)C CP-MAS NMR spectra of alginate powders by multivariate curve resolution.

Multivariate curve resolution (MCR) was applied to (13)C cross-polarisation (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of non-depolymerised alginate powders obtained from brown seaweed plus a pure mannuronate sample isolated from Pseudomonas fluorescens for estimation of the mannuronic acid/guluronic acid ratio (M/G ratio). An excellent MCR model with a correlation coefficient of r(2)=0.99 was established between the estimated M/G ratios and the M/G ratios obtained from the traditional (1)H solution state NMR method.

Quantification of blockiness in pectins-A comparative study using vibrational spectroscopy and chemometrics.

The gelling properties of pectins are related not only to the degree of esterification (DE), but also to the distribution of the ester groups. In this study, we have examined an experimentally designed series of 31 pectins originating from the same mother pectin and de-esterified using combinations of two different enzymatic mechanisms. The potential of using infrared (IR), Raman, and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopies combined with chemometrics for reliable and rapid determination of the DE and distribution patterns of methyl ester groups in a designed set of pectin powders was investigated.