The influence of the extraction methods on the composition, size diversity, molar mass and size distributions of exopolymeric substances (EPS) from the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti wild type (WT) and by the exoY strain deficient in exopolysaccharide production was investigated. EPS obtained by centrifugation, EDTA and formaldehyde/NaOH were compared. It was found that the extraction method influenced TOC, TN and total protein content in EPS from both strains. However, no difference between EDTA and formaldehyde/NaOH methods was observed for the exopolysaccharide components. Similar functional groups and fluorescence pattern were found in the EPS obtained by different methods; however their relative abundance was method dependent. The extraction method also affected the molar mass and size distribution, HP SEC diversity among different treatment and bacterial strains. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.