Dissolved Carbohydrates in Seawater. II, A Spectrophotometric Procedure for Total Carbohydrate Analysis and Polysaccharide Estimation

Authors

Curtis M. Burney, University of Rhode IslandFollow
John McN. Sieburth, University of Rhode Island

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1977

Publication Title

Marine Chemistry

ISSN

0304-4203

Volume

5

Issue/No.

1

First Page

15

Last Page

28

Abstract

A procedure is described which adds a hydrolysis step to the Johnson and Sieburth 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone hydrochloride (MBTH) assay for total dissolved monosaccharides. The advantages of the monosaccharide test are retained in the total carbohydrate test, giving nearly equivalent responses for a variety of combined carbohydrates. A total sample of 50 ml is adequate for both total carbohydrate and monosaccharide assays which permit the estimation of polysaccharide by difference. Values for Narragansett Bay and adjacent waters ranged from 452 to 2023 μg l⁻¹ for total dissolved carbohydrate, 272 to 1353 μg l⁻¹ for polysaccharide, and 153 to 814 μg l⁻¹ for monosaccharide, which accounted for 6–18%, 4–13%, and 2–5% of the total dissolved carbon, respectively. We suggest that this is a sensitive and precise procedure which will be useful for investigating the distribution of dissolved carbohydrates in seawater and factors which affect its production, distribution and utilization.

Comments

©1977 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Additional Comments

NSF grant #: DES-74-01537-A01

NSUWorks Citation

Curtis M. Burney and John McN. Sieburth. 1977. Dissolved Carbohydrates in Seawater. II, A Spectrophotometric Procedure for Total Carbohydrate Analysis and Polysaccharide Estimation .Marine Chemistry , (1) : 15 -28. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/642.

DOI

10.1016/0304-4203(77)90012-3