Capillary electrophoresis analysis of intact and depolymerized complex heteropolysaccharides for quality assurance and purity

Complex (hetero)polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), are fundamental biomacromolecules for all living organisms having important biological and pathophysiological roles. Moreover, in the form of native or depolymerized biomolecules, they are active pharmaceutical and nutraceutical agents after extraction and purification from animal sources. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is applied in many different biological, pharmacological, and nutraceutical fields, clearly showing evidence of the importance of this analytical method in glycosciences. Thanks to its versatility in separation and detection modes, CE may be applied for the analysis and quantification of intact high molecular mass heteropolysaccharides as well as their low molecular weight derivatives up to derived oligosaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides, as single species but also in mixtures. As discussed in the present review and largely illustrated in the current scientific literature, CE may be one of the analytical techniques most useful in quality control laboratories of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies for the determination of GAGs’ purity and quality in raw material and finished products.