title: How to gain insight into the polydispersity of tannins: a combined MS and LC study.
abstract: In the context of the potential health benefits of food polyphenols, the bioavailability of tannins (i.e. proanthocyanidins) is a major issue, which is strongly influenced by the polydispersity and the degree of polymerisation of tannins. The average degree of polymerisation (DP) of tannins is usually determined using depolymerisation methods, which do not provide any information about their polymer distribution. Moreover, it is still a challenge to characterise tannin fractions of high polydispersity and/or containing polymers of high molecular weights, due to the limit of detection of direct mass spectrometry (MS) analysis methods. In the present work, the polydispersity of several tannin fractions is investigated by two complementary methods: a MALDI-MS method and a semi-preparative sub-fractionation. Using a combination of these methods we are able to gain insight into the DP distributions of the fractions consisting of tannins of medium and high DP. Moreover combining analyses can be useful to assess and compare the DP distributions of most tannin fractions.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: laetitia.mouls@supagro.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mouls
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hugouvieux
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mazauric
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sommerer
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mazerolles
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Montpellier SupAgro, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France; Université Montpellier I, UMR1083, F-34060 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fulcrand
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D044945:Proanthocyanidins / Q000737:chemistry; D013634:Tannins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D044945:Proanthocyanidins; D013634:Tannins
keywords: Chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Polydispersity; Polymer; Polyphenol; Tannin