Oxidative Depolymerization of Polysaccharides Induced by the Ascorbic Acid-Copper Ion Systems

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Abstract
Oxidative depolymerization of several polysaccharides induced by oxygen radical generating systems such as ascorbic acid-copper ion was investigated by the increases in their reducing powers and by gel-filtration. All polysaccharides used in these experiments were greatly depolymerized within 24 hr at room temperature. We thought that the main factors in the oxidation of these polysaccharides were the actions of hydroxyl radical (∙OH) generated from the autoxidation of ascorbic acid. On the other hand, dextrans having molecular weights above 103 ~ 104 were more susceptible to the oxidation reaction with OH than smaller oligosaccharides (MW3), and we estimated that the formation of sugars-copper ion complexes was highly important to the oxidative depolymerization of polysaccharides.

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