QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF SUGAR SOLUTIONS USING INFRARED-SPECTROSCOPY

Rapid quantitative analysis of sugar mixtures is important in industries such as soft drink manufacture and brewing. This work investigates the suitability of Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (4000-400 cm-1) as an analytical technique in this area. FT-IR allows much more rapid analysis than prior art procedures, and has potential for on-line monitoring. Matrix methods have been used to obtain calibrations for mixtures of sucrose, glucose and fructose, in concentration ranges typically encountered in the soft drinks industry. The calibrations have been applied to real and synthetic samples, and the results compared with those obtained from traditional methods of analysis.