Spectrophotometric determination of acid mucopolysaccharides

The present report describes a novel spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of acid mucopolysaccharides based on the interaction of these macromolecules with the zirconyl ion. The method is simple, accurate, and involves the determination of the acid mucopolysaccharide molecules rather than their hydrolytic components (as in the case of existing methods of analysis). Substances, which are normally present in the acid mucopolysaccharide preparations (such as protein, glycoprotein, and nucleic acid), do not interfere with the determination.