Quantitation of carbohydrate sweeteners and organic acids in human oral fluid using HPLC analysis

A sensitive high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay was developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of carbohydrate sweeteners and organic acids in oral fluid. To separate these compounds, an ion-moderated partition resin HPLC column (Aminex HPX-87H) was used. All components of the HPLC system were interconnected using stainless steel capillary tubing. Isocratic elution with 0.01N sulfuric acid provided the profile of both compound classes. The compounds were detected using a refractive index detector. The method employed computerized data collection and integration (Omega-2 system) with a detection sensitivity of 0.1 micrograms compound per HPLC assay (80 microliters). This method is useful in caries research, because it detects minute amounts of sugars and organic acids in oral fluid during clearance studies of various foods in the mouth.