Structural Profiling of Xyloglucans from Food Plants by High-Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography with Parallel Pulsed Amperometric and Mass Spectrometric Detection

Xyloglucans are the dominant hemicelluloses in the primary cell wall of dicotyledonous plants, fulfilling numerous functions. However, routine methods of cell wall analytical chemistry such as methylation analysis are time-consuming and often not adequate to capture the structural diversity of xyloglucans. Here, a xyloglucan profiling method based on the enzymatic release of xyloglucan oligosaccharides by a xyloglucan-specific endo-β-(1→4)-glucanase and subsequent analysis of these oligosaccharides by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with parallel pulsed amperometric and mass spectrometric detection was developed. For this purpose, a set of 23 authentic xyloglucan oligosaccharides was generated, structurally characterized by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, and established as analytical standard compounds. Coupling of HPAEC with parallel electrochemical and MS detection was demonstrated to be an excellent tool to analyze xyloglucan-derived oligosaccharides. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by characterizing the xyloglucan architecture from a set of nine economically relevant food plants from the botanical orders Caryophyllales (rhubarb, buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa), Cucurbitales (Hokkaido squash), Laurales (avocado), Myrtales (pomegranate), and Sapindales (mango and orange) for the first time. In future studies, this method can ideally be used to monitor structural alterations of xyloglucans as a result of genetic engineering, plant/tissue maturation, and processing of plant material.