Measurement of interactions between polysaccharides and flavour compounds by exclusion size chromatography: advantages and limits.

Interactions between flavour compounds and polysaccharides have been studied by exclusion size chromatography, the Hummel and Dreyer method. Hydrogen bonding was found between 2-acetyl thiazole and dextrines of different degrees of polymerisation. The number of binding sites and the affinity constant increase by increasing the degree of polymerisation. Hydrogen bonding was also responsible for the interactions between xanthane and 1-octen-3-ol or 2-acetyl pyrazine, with 1 mole of 1-octen-3-ol bound per pentasaccharide repeating unit. Unfortunately, the number of flavour compounds, which can be studied with this method, is limited due to their low water solubility and their low UV absorption.