DETERMINATION OF 5-HYDROXYMETHYLFURFURAL BY ION-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH UV DETECTION

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was determined without interferences in juices, honey, syrup, tomato paste, grape juice concentrate and dehydrated pear by anion-exclusion chromatographic separation and UV detection at 285 nm. The samples were mixed with water, filtered and injected without extensive sample treatment, which is normally required in conventional spectrophotometric or reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic methods. HMF at the 50 ppb level was determined with a signal-to-noise ratio of 6. The recovery of HMF added to honey was 98% at the 10 ppm level and 91% at 30 ppm.