SINGLE-INJECTION HPLC ANALYSIS OF ACIDS, SUGARS, AND ALCOHOLS IN CUCUMBER FERMENTATIONS

A method was developed to analyze 11 compounds, which may occur in fresh or fermented cucumbers, by a single injection onto a polymeric sulfonated styrene-divinylbenzene cation ion-exchange column. Isocratic elution with 1.6 mM heptafluorobutyric acid resulted in separation and elution of the following compounds in 28 min: glucose, fructose, glycerol, ethanol, 1-propanol, malic acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. A conductivity detector for determination of organic acids and a pulsed amperometric detector for analysis of sugars and alcohols were connected in series to analyze these compounds without interferences. Use of internal or external standardization and either peak heights or peak areas for quantitation were all found to give satisfactory analyses for all 11 compounds.