Simultaneous determination of organic acids and sugars in fruit juices by High performance liquid chromatography: characterization and differentiation of commercial juices by principal component analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The present research presents an analytical methodology based on High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Principal Component Analyses (PCA) for simultaneous quantification and analytical differentiation of organic acids and sugars in commercial fruit juice samples (orange, grape, apple and tangerine). In addition to the development of the method that generated suitable validation paramters for quantitative analytical applications, the analysis of fourteen commercial samples and the use of Principal Component Analysis indicated the relationship between the constituents and the very constitutional chemical nature of the juice. In general, in grape and apple juices, ascorbic acid was not quantified and the citric acid content was very low; however, the concentrations of fructose and glucose were the highest in both juices. In orange and mandarin orange juices, the content of all analytes, except acorbic acid, did not differ statistically from each other. However, these differed significantly from the others, mainly in relation to sucrose content. Finally, the apple juice samples differed according to the content of fructose and malic acid, the predominant constituint of the apple. Results showed that the simultaneous chromatographic method associated with principal component analysis generated important information about characteristics of commercial juices, with the potential to be used in systems of quality control and identification of adulterations.