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Advances in identification of plant gums in cultural heritage by thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation

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Abstract

Plant gums are present in works of art as binding media for watercolours and adhesives for cellulosic substrates. Thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM) in combination with analytical pyrolysis coupled to GC/MS has been applied to the characterisation of plant gums typically used in artworks. THM products from standard samples of arabic gum, tragacanth gum and cherry gum were characterised. The main products identified are permethylated and partially methylated aldonic acids, characteristic of specific epimeric sugars. Aldonic acids were formed by alkaline hydrolysis of free reducing sugars and of reducing polysaccharide terminal groups, while methylation occurs during pyrolysis. The presence of these characteristic markers allows gum identification. A systematic analysis of all the parameters that can affect the marker yields was performed. In particular, the influence of pyrolysis temperature, reagent concentration and contact time between tetramethylammonium hydroxide and sample were studied, and different kinds of sample preparation procedures were tested. Some analyses on real watercolours were performed, and gum binders were classified using the peak area ratio of the main monosaccharide markers.

Classification of gums on the basis of marker area peaks ratio

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Acknowledgements

This work is part of national funded project (PRIN2007: Colours and balsams in antiquity: from the chemical study to the knowledge of technologies in cosmetics, paintings and medicine). The financial support of Ministry of University and Scientific Research, Italy is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of IPM Chemistry and NIS-Centre of Excellence, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria n°7, 10125, Torino, Italy

    Chiara Riedo, Dominique Scalarone & Oscar Chiantore

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  1. Chiara Riedo
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  2. Dominique Scalarone
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  3. Oscar Chiantore
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Correspondence to Oscar Chiantore.

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Riedo, C., Scalarone, D. & Chiantore, O. Advances in identification of plant gums in cultural heritage by thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation. Anal Bioanal Chem 396, 1559–1569 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3325-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3325-4

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