Chromatographic characterization of proanthocyanidins after thiolysis withcysteamine

Cysteamine is proposed as a user-friendly thiol donor with application to t he analysis of proanthocyanidins by thiolysis. Oligomeric proanthocyanidins are potent antioxidants and disease-preventing agents. The efficiency of w hich depends on their composition and size. The degree of polymerization of proanthocyanidins is usually estimated by thiolysis then reversed-phase hi gh-performance liquid chromatography. The new derivatization procedure is a n alternative to the use of toluene-alpha -thiol as thiol donor. In additio n to enabling the direct chromatographic analysis of crude material, the am ino function introduced facilitates prior discrimination between terminal a nd extension flavanoid moieties by means of cation-exchange chromatography.