Chromatographic analysis and preparation of l-arabinose from corncob by acid hydrolysis

Abstract

l-arabinose, a kind of rare sugar, which has already become newly developed functional saccharide with many beneficial biomedical and health effects. In this study, we carried out several experiments to analyze the component of hydrolyzed corncob. Components in the hydrolysate were detected by the methods of ultraviolet spectrogram, HPLC, TLC and High-efficient Thin Layer scanning analysis. The hydrolysis temperature, holding time, concentration of oxalic acid and solid-liquid ratio were investigated as objects by single factor experiments. The results showed that the content of saccharides in the hydrolysate of corncob was up to 72.70%. Three kinds of monosaccharide (d-xylose, l-arabinose, d-glucose) were detected by HPLC analysis and the relative amount of the above three saccharides were 32.8%, 31.4% and 35.7%, respectively. The optimum conditions were: temperature 90°C, holding time 5h, concentration of oxalic acid 6%, solid-liquid ratio 1:12, and the highest l-arabinose yield was 14.89%.