Abstract

ESPINOSA-ANDREWS, H. et al. Quantification of the composition of gum arabic-chitosan coacervates by HPLC. Rev. Mex. Ing. Quím [online]. 2008, vol.7, n.3, pp.293-298. ISSN 1665-2738.

Formation of a complex coacervate between gum Arabic and chitosan produces a spontaneous separation into a coacervate (precipitated) phase coexisting with an equilibrium (soluble) phase. The relative concentrations between the polysaccharides in these two phases, is difficult to quantify. In this work, the equilibrium phase was subjected to acid hydrolysis, and evaluation of the produced monosaccharides was done by HPLC. Composition of the coacervate phase was computed by mass balance. These results were compared with those obtained previously for the same system, where the coacervate phase was analyzed by elementary analysis. Results obtained using both procedures were non-significantly different.

Keywords : gum Arabic; chitosan; complex coacervation; acid hydrolysis; HPLC quantification; equilibrium phase.