Determination of hexitols by reversed phase liquid chromatography using on-line complexation with molybdate ion

•A simple RPLC-UV method for the analysis of hexitols was developed.•Hexitols on-line complexed with molybdate ion were detected at 247 nm.•The LODs of three hexitols (mannitol, sorbitol and dulcitol) were 0.001 mM.•The proposed method was applied to determine hexitols in candy samples.

A new approach is proposed to determine three hexitols (mannitol, sorbitol and dulcitol) by reversed phase liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection. When molybdate ion is added to the mobile phase, it forms complexes with hexitols that can be separated on a reversed phase C30 column and detected by UV absorption at 247 nm. The mobile phase (pH 3.1) consisted of 0.1 mM disodium molybdate and 1 mM phosphoric acid. Other sugar alcohols, such as erythritol and xylitol, and glucose could not be detected under these conditions. The quantification limits of the examined three hexitols calculated at S/N = 10 were 0.001 mM and the detector response was linear in the range 0.001-0.3 mM. The method successfully measured these hexitols in candy samples, and the results obtained by the proposed method agreed well with those obtained by enzymatic methods.

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