Abstract :
[en] To measure the degradation of carbohydrates during fermentation the photometrical Anthron method has been adapted. The method has been verified in mesophilic batch tests with the model substrates glucose (water-soluble), corn-starch and cellulose (both insoluble in water). First, the content of soluble carbohydrates was measured. For determination of carbo-hydrates in soluble phase, the samples were filtered (syringe PTFE-filter with mesh size 0.45 μm) to separate the solution from all types of particles, particulate carbohydrates included. The soluble phase reacted with the Anthron solution for 8 minutes at 100 °C. Afterwards, the coloration reaction was stopped by a quick (5 min) cooling step in ice water to ensure repeatability of the method considering a larger number of samples to be measured. Afterwards samples had been equilibrated at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Before measurement, the sample had to be diluted to reduce on the one hand the intensity of the background and on the other hand to obtain the measuring range (l = 625 nm) of soluble carbohydrates of 10 to 100 mg/l.
The total carbohydrate content, which consists of the soluble and particulate fraction, was determined by an additional pre-hydrolysis step (50 % sulfuric acid at 100 °C during 8 minutes) before the Anthron reaction was started.
To measure insoluble carbohydrates, e.g. starch and cellulose, they had to pass an additional pre-hydrolysis step, which is performed before filtration and the subsequent Anthron reaction. This additional step (in the following called “indirect method”) is necessary to measure the part of insoluble respectively polymeric carbohydrates of a sample. The amount of particulate carbohydrates is further be calculated by the difference between total and soluble carbohydrates.
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