High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of chondroitin sulphate in food products

Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of chondroitin sulphate (ChS) in foods is described based on the detection of two unsaturated disaccharides liberated from ChS by enzymatic digestion with chondroitinase ABC. Chondroitinase ABC hydrolyses ChS to produce two unsaturated disaccharides (6-sulphonated and 4-sulphonated disaccharides), which were retained on an amino-phase column with retention times of 6.2 and 7.3 min, respectively. The peaks resulting from these disaccharides were used to determine the amount of ChS in the sample. The method was applied successfully to the analysis of commercial mayonnaise, dressing and fish sausage.