Nuclear magnetic resonance quantification for monitoring heparosan K5 capsular polysaccharide production

Traditional chromatographic quantification methods for heparosan produced from the Escherichia coli K5 strain rely on extensive purification requiring laborious sample preparation. These methods are time-consuming, often resulting in sample loss during purification, and thus might not accurately reflect the amount of heparosan in the original mixture. A simple, sensitive (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantification method that directly quantifies heparosan K5 polysaccharide present in E. coli fermentation supernatant is described.