Analysis of the monosaccharide composition of fucoidan by precolumn derivation HPLC

We developed an HPLC method for analysis of the monosaccharide composition of fucoidans. The fucoidan was hydrolyzed into monosaccharides with 2 mol/L trifluoroacetic acid. Using ribose as the internal standard, the monosaccharide derivatives, obtained with 1-Phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP), were separated by reverse-phase HPLC using a gradient elution process, and monitored by ultraviolet detection at 245 nm. In the concentration range of 0.1-2.0 mmol/L, the peak area of each monosaccharide had a good linear relationship with its concentration (r(2)> 0.998). The average recoveries of mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, glucose, galactose, xylose, and fucose were 86.2%, 95.1%, 62.5%, 102.0%, 94.8%, 66.6%, and 105.1%, respectively. This method was accurate and had good reproducibility and could be used to determine the monosaccharide contents of fucoidans.