High-speed separation and size characterization of wheat and barley starch granules by lift-hyperlayer asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation in synergy with SPLITT fractionation

The complementary employment of two separation techniques, one analytical-scale, the other preparative-scale, i.e. the lift-hyperlayer asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AsyFIFFF) and the split flow-thin cell (SPLITT) is presented for the first time as a methodology to size-separate and rapidly characterize starch granules of different botanical origins. Very rapid separation and size characterization is achieved by AsyFIFFF and the techniques are mutually used to characterize and confirm data produced by the other. Light microscopy (LM) was used to test the quality of the performed SPLITT separations and consequently to evaluate the AsyFIFFF results. The procedure was applied to wheat and barley starch.