Determination of Mono-, Di-. Tri- and Polysaccharides

The analysis of sugars, e.g. in various food stuff, is important for manufacturer, authorities and private investigation laboratories. This analysis can easily and rapidly be performed by planar chromatography.

Depending on the mixture of sugars in a sample 3 different separation can be employed.

The extracts are chromatographed on silica gel or amino plates, respectively without prior derivatization. Post chromatographic derivatization with diphenyl amine-aniline-phosphoric acid-reagent follows for all standards and samples simultaneously. Using the amino plate, the sugars fluoresce by simply heating the plate. Densitometric evaluation is done by absorbance measurement at 620 nm or by fluorescence measurement at 266/>400 nm. The limit of detection for fluorescent zones is about 10 ng.