Capillary electrophoresis method for the simultaneous determination of carbohydrates and proline in honey samples

• A simple CE method was developed for determination of three sugars and proline in honey samples.
• Under optimized CE conditions the separation of the four analytes was achieved in 5 min.
• The method was successfully applied to six honey samples from Argentina and Sweden.
• The proposed method is simple and does not need to perform any sample pretreatment.

A capillary electrophoresis method with indirect UV detection for the simultaneous determination of three carbohydrates (fructose, glucose and sucrose) and the amino acid proline in honey samples was developed. This method included the use of a background electrolyte consisting of 10 mM sodium benzoate and 1.5 mM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, pH 12.4. Under optimal capillary electrophoresis conditions, the separation of the investigated substances was achieved in less than 5 min and single dilution of each sample was employed. The detection limits for fructose, glucose and sucrose were 0.58 g L− 1, 0.67 g L− 1 and 0.12 g L− 1 respectively, and 0.72 mg L− 1 for proline. Precision measurements calculated in terms of %RSD in the range of 0.92 to 5.43%, were obtained. The proposed method was applied to honey samples from Argentina and Sweden and enables the determination of the three carbohydrates and the amino acid proline. The results show that the proposed method is simple, requires short analysis times, low consumption of reagents and sample, minimum waste and that there is no need to perform any sample pre-treatment. This method is a good alternative to carry out the quality control of honey samples. Finally, it is a promising methodology for achieving green chemistry goals.