SINGLE-INJECTION HPLC ANALYSIS OF ACIDS, SUGARS, AND ALCOHOLS IN CUCUMBER FERMENTATIONS

A method was developed to analyze 11 compounds, which may occur in fre sh or fermented cucumbers, by a single injection onto a polymeric sulf onated styrene-divinylbenzene cation ion-exchange column. Isocratic el ution with 1.6 mM heptafluorobutyric acid resulted in separation and e lution of the following compounds in 28 min: glucose, fructose, glycer ol, ethanol, 1-propanol, malic acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, aceti c acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. A conductivity detector for determination of organic acids and a pulsed amperometric detector for analysis of sugars and alcohols were connected in series to analyze th ese compounds without interferences. Use of internal or external stand ardization and either peak heights or peak areas for quantitation were all found to give satisfactory analyses for all 11 compounds.