MAPLE SYRUP AUTHENTICITY ANALYSIS BY ANION-EXCHANGE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION

Methodology employing anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatog raphy coupled with pulsed amperometric detection was developed to dete rmine the addition of high-fructose corn syrup and beet medium invert syrup to maple syrup. Fingerprint oligosaccharides were shown to be pr esent in these inexpensive sweeteners, which were not detectable (area < 30 000) in pure maple syrup. Eighty pure maple syrup samples repres enting the major geographical regions of production in North America w ere analyzed in this study. Thirty of these samples were intentionally adulterated with each individual inexpensive sweetener at levels of 5 , 10, and 20%. The detection limit for each of these inexpensive sweet eners was 5%.