Solid-phase extraction procedure to remove organic acids from honey

A solid-phase extraction procedure was applied to remove organic acids from honey. Malic, maleic, citric, succinic and fumaric acids were isolated with an anion-exchange cartridge. The different parameters which affected the extraction procedure were studied and optimised to establish the optimal conditions for maximum recovery of organic acids and minimum extraction of interferences. The optimised procedure used a cartridge which was activated with 10 ml of 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution (percolation rate 3 ml/min). A 10 ml volume of honey solution was passed at a flow-rate of 0.5 ml/min. The cartridge was washed with 10 ml of water (3 ml/min) and organic acids were eluted with 4 ml of 0.1 M sulfuric acid (0.5 ml/min). This solution was injected directly into the chromatograph. When this procedure was carried out on standard solutions of organic acids, recoveries between 99.2 and 103.4% were found. If this procedure was applied to honey samples these recoveries were also satisfactory and ranged from 62.9 to 99.4%.