Development of a fast capillary electrophoresis method for determination of carbohydrates in honey samples

In this study, the determination of fructose, glucose and sucrose by capillary electrophoresis (CE) was investigated. The tendency of the analyte to undergo electromigration dispersion and the buffer capacity were evaluated using the Peakmaster® software and considered in the optimization of the background electrolyte, which was composed of 20 mmol L−1 sorbic acid, 0.2 mmol L−1 CTAB and 40 mmol L−1 NaOH at pH 12.2. Under optimal CE conditions, the separation of the substances investigated was achieved in less than 2 min. The detection limits for the three analytes were in the range of 0.022 and 0.029 g L−1 and precision measurements within 0.62–4.69% were achieved. The proposed methodology was applied in the quantitative analysis by direct injection of in honey samples to determine the main sugars presents. The samples were previously dissolved in deionized water and filtered with no other sample treatment. The mean values for fructose, glucose and sucrose were in the ranges of 33.65–45.46 g 100 g−1, 24.63–35.06 g 100 g−1 and <0.22–1.32 g 100 g−1, respectively. The good analytical performance of the method makes it suitable for implementation in food laboratories for the routine analysis of honey samples.