Enzyme-aided analysis of galactoglucomannan (GGM) isolated from pine wood chips by hot water extraction

Galactoglucomannan (GGM) isolated from pine wood chips by hot water extraction was enzymatically hydrolysed into galactoglucomanno-oligosaccharides (GGMOs). Enzymes are known to hydrolyse GGM selectively and depending on the utilized enzyme a different pool of GGMOs can be obtained. The objective of this work was to utilize enzymatic hydrolysis as a tool to estimate carbohydrate pattern of GGM. The galactoglucomannan utilized as substrate in the experiments was isolated from pine wood chips by hot water extraction. The obtained GGM (purity ~73.5%, calculated based on the Man:Glc:Gal ratio of 4:1:0.5) was of relatively low molecular weight (3300 g/mol) and contained pectin and xylan as main impurities (Hyvärinen et al. EWLP 2012