Validation of a Combined Enzymatic and HPLC Method for Screening of Pectins in Fruits of Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles japonica)

Abstract A combined enzymatic and HPLC method was validated for analysis of galacturonic acid (GalA) in (1) alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS), and in (2) pectins, extracted from fruits of Japanese quince ( Chaenomeles japonica ), by comparison with a standard colorimetric method (using metahydroxydiphenyl) for analysis of uronic acids (UA). For analysis of AIS, the results of the colorimetric and the enzymatic/HPLC methods were identical (UA and GalA in average 20 g/100 g AIS dry weight). For analysis of pectins, the colorimetric method resulted in consistently higher estimates (UA in average 63 g/100 g pectins dry weight) compared to the enzymatic/HPLC method (GalA in average 57 g/100 g pectins dry weight). The enzymatic/HPLC method also proved to be useful as a simple and efficient screening method, since a very high Pearson correlation ( R =0.93) was obtained between GalA estimates of the homogenized fruit sample and the AIS content of acid-extracted pectins.