Capillary column gas chromatographic identification of sugars in honey as trimethylsilyl derivatives

A method for identifying carbohydrates (mono-, di- and trisaccharides) in honey is presented. It is based on the separate preparation of both trimethylsilyl ethers and oxime trimethylsilyl ethers of the sugars followed by their gas chromatographic separation on a fused-silica capillary column coated with OV-101 using temperature programming. From the two chromatograms, the number of peaks given by each derivatized sugar, their relative retention times and peak-area ratios are used for identification. The identities of two unidentified trisaccharide peaks are considered. Quantitative applications to honey sugar analysis are discussed.