Improved procedures for extraction of water-extractable carbohydrates from particulate organic matter

Abstract The present work presents improvements to the existing methods for extraction of carbohydrates with water. In order to test the effects of extraction factors on the yield of carbohydrates, extractions of water-soluble carbohydrates were performed with two contrasting samples (suspended particulate organic matter from the high turbidity zone of the Gironde estuary and sedimentary organic matter from the Arcachon lagoon) under different experimental conditions. Results show that: (i) boiling water applied for 30 min yielded the best result for water-soluble carbohydrates in both samples; (ii) sonic disruption had a strong influence on the recovery rate of water-soluble carbohydrates – a steady yield was reached after a 3-min treatment; (iii) almost all the water-extractable carbohydrates are removed after the third extraction. Consequently, a general method is proposed to improve the extraction of water-extractable carbohydrates from particulate matter.