Chromatographic characterization of proanthocyanidins after thiolysis with cysteamine

Summary Cysteamine is proposed as a user-friendly thiol donor with application to the analysis of proanthocyanidins by thiolysis. Oligomeric proanthocyanidins are potent antioxidants and disease-preventing agents. The efficiency of which depends on their composition and size. The degree of polymerization of proanthocyanidins is usually estimated by thiolysis then reversedphase high-performance liquid chromatography. The new derivatization procedure is an alternative to the use of toluene-α-thiol as thiol donor. In addition to enabling the direct chromatographic analysis of curude material, the amino function introduced facilitates prior discrimination between terminal and extension flavanoid moieties by means of cation-exchange chromatography.