Analysis by ion chromatography of sugars in honey

Honey has long been a prime target of adulteration for economic gain.

Honey has long been a prime target of adulteration for economic gain.

It can be adulterated by mixing it with high fructose corn syrup or jaggery or sugar syrup.

While adulteration cannot be detected by visually examining or tasting honey, it can well be identified by analysis of the fructose/glucose ratio.

If this ratio is found to be significantly higher than 1.2 : 1 adulteration has to be considered.

Analysis by ion chromatography with Metrohm's 817 Bioscan The ratio of glucose and fructose can be reliably and precisely analysed using ion chromatography in conjunction with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) at moderately elevated temperatures (32C).

The analysis is done on a MIC-8 Advanced modular IC system.

The heart piece of this system is Metrohm's 817 Bioscan which is predestined for sugar analysis.

The electrochemical detection is performed with a maintenance-free measuring cell which is located within the shielded and insulating housing of the column oven.

The three-electrode measuring principle is applied; a gold working electrode is used as standard.

As a very versatile detector, the 817 Bioscan can also be used to determine alcohols, sugar alcohols, sugar acids, polysaccharides and other oxidisable or reducible substances.

Sample preparation is really easy and fast.

Just dilute the sample with deionised water in a ratio of 1 to 10000 and filtrate this solution.

he 817 Bioscan extends the modular ion chromatography system from Metrohm by including carbohydrate analysis in the range of IC applications.

The heart of the 817 Bioscan is the pulsed amperometric detector with built-in column oven.

Control and data acquisition are via the Metrodata IC Net software.

As the AD conversion takes place in the 817 Bioscan, no additional interface is necessary.

In the modular IC system any modules can be combined with one another.

This means that it is possible to operate a stand-alone system with the pulsed amperometric detector 817 Bioscan; however, it can also be incorporated in a standard IC system for the determination of anions and cations without any problems.

The expression sugar analyser is actually too narrow as, apart from carbohydrates, the 817 Bioscan can also be used to determine alcohols, sugar alcohols, sugar acids, polysaccharides and other oxidizable or reducible substances.

The new Metrosep Carb 1 separating columns play an important role here.

They are particularly suitable for the determination of carbohydrates using alkaline eluents and pulsed amperometric detection.

They are very stable under alkaline conditions and convince with their outstanding separating properties.

The measuring cell of the 817 Bioscan and the insulated column oven form a single unit that is optimally protected against environmental influences.

The three-electrode measuring principle is applied; a gold working electrode is used as standard.

Depending on the requirements, the detector can be operated in the DC, scan or pulse mode.

The pulse mode, in which three different working potentials are applied in sequence.

Sample preparation The filtration of the diluted sample can optionally be done inline with Metrohm's famous 833 Advanced IC Liquid Handling Ultrafiltration Unit.

When it comes to difficult matrices, Metrohm is simply first choice.

Metrohm's reliable Inline Sample Preparation concept (MISP) for ion chromatography allows rationalizing the time-consuming and cost-intensive manual sample preparation steps dramatically.

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