CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

A Capillary Electrophoresis method with indirect UV detection for the simultaneous determination of three carbohydrates (fructose, glucose and sucrose) and the amino acid proline in honey samples was developed. This method included the use of an background electrolyte consisting of 10 mM sodium benzoate and 1.5 mM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, pH 12.4. Under optimal Capillary Electrophoresis conditions, the separation of the investigated substances was achieved in less than 5 minutes and single dilution of each sample was employed. The detection limits for fructose, glucose and sucrose were 0.58 g L-1, 0.67 g L-1 and 0.12 g L-1 respectively, and 0.72 mg L-1 for proline. Precision measurements calculated in terms of %RSD in the range of 0.92 to 5.43%, were obtained. The proposed method was applied to honey samples from Argentina and Sweden and enables the determination of the three carbohydrates and the amino acid proline. The results show that the proposed method is simple, requires short analysis times, low consumption of reagents and sample, minimum waste and that there is no need to perform any sample pre-treatment. This method is a good alternative to carry out the quality control of honey samples. Finally, it is a promising methodology for achieving green chemistry goals.