TITLE:
Rapid Quantification of Functional Carbohydrates in Food Products
AUTHORS:
Annabelle Le Parc, Hyeyoung Lee, Kevin Chen, Daniela Barile
KEYWORDS:
Carbohydrates; Milk; Colorimetric Method; Microplate; Mass Spectrometry
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.1,
January
15,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Current research on milk bioactive components,
including complex oligosaccharides, stimulated development of novel milk-based
ingredients; this in turn sparked the development of methods that are
simultaneously simple and sensitive. Oligosaccharides and glycoproteins present
interesting health benefits, including antibacterial and antiviral effects,
stimulation of the immune system, and participation in the establishment of a
balanced gut microbiome in
infants. This work describes the application of a simple and rapid method—Total
Carbohydrate Assay—to the determination of functional carbohydrate content in
various dairy-based functional products. The miniaturization and optimization
of the carbohydrate quantification on microplates afforded good repeatability
and sensitivity. The optimized method consumed only minimal amounts of reagents
and samples, and carbohydrates were
detected in the range from 0 - 20 μg. This
assay was successfully applied to determine the content of complicated
oligosaccharide mixtures and N-glycans
in dairy-derived products. Several complementary analytical
techniques were applied to confirm the results. This method is faster and far
less expensive than mass spectrometry and it gives a general picture of complex
carbohydrate concentrations for instances in which detailed data are not required as needed
for research in discrete differences among various biological samples. The ability to quantify
glycans in novel food products will provide a unique understanding of the
potential of these novel ingredients for use by the food industry.