The DM and DA of pectin were determined using a HPLC method according to Levigne, Thomas, Ralet, Quemener, and Thibault (2002b) with some modifications. Pectin (5 mg) was suspended in 0.5 mL of a solution containing 10 mM copper sulphate and 25 mM isopropanol as an internal standard; 0.5 mL of 1 M sodiumhydroxide was added to achieve saponification. The reaction mixture was left at 4 C for 1.5 h. Reaction mixtures were centrifuged for 10 min at 8000g. Supernatants were neutralised through a 2 mL syringe equipped with a Maxi-clean IC-H device (Alltech,USA) prior to injection on a Superspher 100 RP-18 end capped LiChroCART 250–4 column (Merck, Germany). Elution was carried out with 4 mM sulphuric acid at 0.7 mL/min and 25 C, with refractometric detection.