Analysis of Sugars

Significance of the topic

The accurate quantification of mono- and disaccharides is critical in food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries for quality control and regulatory compliance.

High-temperature ligand-exchange chromatography offers a solvent-free, robust approach to resolving closely related sugar isomers.

Study aims and overview

This application note demonstrates the use of the Shim-pack SCR-101C column on a Nexera system to separate and detect four common sugars – lactose, glucose, mannose and fructose – in aqueous solution using refractive index detection.

Methodology

The separation utilized isocratic elution with water at elevated temperature to exploit ligand-exchange interactions between sugars and the column’s functional groups.

Instrumentation

• Liquid chromatograph: Shimadzu Nexera system
• Analytical column: Shim-pack SCR-101C, 300 mm × 7.9 mm I.D., 10 μm
• Guard column: Shim-pack SCR (C), 50 mm × 4 mm I.D., 10 μm
• Detector: Refractive index detector

Main results and discussion

Baseline separation of four sugars was achieved within 11 minutes using only water as the mobile phase at 80 °C and 1.0 mL/min flow rate.

• Lactose eluted first, followed by glucose, mannose and fructose
• High column temperature improved peak shape and resolution
• Refractive index detection provided stable response for each sugar

Benefits and practical applications of the method

• Elimination of organic solvents reduces environmental impact and operating costs
• Rapid analysis time supports high-throughput quality control workflows
• Robust ligand-exchange mechanism ensures reproducible separation of isomeric sugars

Future trends and potential applications

• Integration with mass spectrometry for enhanced sensitivity and selectivity
• Expansion to other polar analytes such as sugar alcohols and oligosaccharides
• Development of miniaturized or high-throughput formats for process monitoring

Conclusion

The Shim-pack SCR-101C column combined with high-temperature water elution and refractive index detection provides a straightforward and reliable method for resolving and quantifying common sugars, meeting the needs of food, beverage and pharmaceutical quality control laboratories.

References

• Shimadzu Corporation. Application News L548: Analysis of Sugars using Shim-pack SCR-101C (First Edition Dec. 2021)