Sugar colorants from syrups, cane and beet raw sugar and synthetic col
orants were separated using sucrose crystals packed in conventional pr
essure chromatographic columns. Eluents were fed to the column through
high precision pumps and the absorbance ot the output was measured in
a Diode-Array spectrophotometer. Different groups of compounds were s
eparated when using a gradient of eluents with different hydrophobicit
ies and alkalinity/acidity. The effect of different decolorizing agent
s on these colorant groups was studied.