Effect of polysaccharide chain conformation on ultrasonic degradation of curdlan in alkaline solution

This study was to investigate the effects of polysaccharide chain conformation on ultrasonic degradation of curdlan, a high MW β-glucan with wide applications. The ultrasonic degradation was performed in alkaline solution at 0.1 M and 0.3 M NaOH, in which the curdlan chain was mainly in triple helical conformation and random coil form, respectively. The degradation rate was represented by the kinetic model, 1/M_t - 1/M_o = kt, with the rate constant k increasing with the ultrasonic power. The degradation rate was much higher in 0.3 M NaOH than in 0.1 M NaOH, suggesting that curdlan in random coil conformation was more liable to degradation than in helical conformation. Curdlan in 0.1 M NaOH was changed from triple helices to single helices and eventually to random coils with a higher solubility. In summary, ultrasonic degradation of curdlan in alkaline solution had a close and complex relationship to the chain conformation changes.