Comparison of ultraviolet and refractive index detections in the HPLC analysis of sugars.

This study focuses on comparison of ultraviolet and refractive index detections in the hplc analysis of sugars.. The research employs high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques to address analytical challenges in the food safety field. Refractive index (RI) detection is the standard approach for quantitatively detecting sugars via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), while ultraviolet (UV) absorbance detection is the most commonly used detection method for general HPLC analysis. We compared the two detection approaches of UV and RI in the HPLC analysis of small sugars... Research Background and Significance The analysis of sugars in food matrices is critical for food safety, quality control, and nutritional assessment. Sugars, being key carbohydrates, influence both the sensory properties and safety parameters of food products, necessitating accurate and reliable quantification methods. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) remains a gold standard for sugar analysis due to its versatility and sensitivity. Traditionally, refractive index (RI) detection has been widely employed for sugar analysis, as sugars generally lack strong chromophores and thus do not absorb UV light efficiently. However, RI detectors have limitations including sensitivity to temperature and mobile phase changes and incompatibility with gradient elution. Conversely, ultraviolet (UV) detection is the most common detection mode in HPLC because of its robustness and sensitivity for analytes with chromophores but is less commonly applied for sugars due to their weak UV absorbance. This study by Jalaludin and Kim (2021) addresses the comparative performance of UV and RI detectors in the HPLC analysis of small sugars, offering insights into their respective analytical capab