Wood, grass, and other lignocellulosic biomass are emerging as the preferred sources for biofuel and biochemical production. Compositional analysis of plant derived material is crucial for maximizing the yield of biofuel production. A single HPAE-PAD method, which uses the Dionex CarboPac PA20 column, can be used for the simultaneous determination of mono- and disaccharides and uronic acids.

This Application Note describes the use of two different anion-exchange columns with amperometric detection to analyze simple sugars, sugar alcohols, alcohols, and glycols in yeast and bacterial fermentation broths. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Yeast Extract-Peptone-Dextrose (YPD) broth and the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth are common eukaryotic and prokaryotic fermentation systems, respectively. This record shows a method that is best for mono- and disaccharides.

The second method in this application note takes advantage of the selectivity and high capacity of the Dionex CarboPac MA1 column. Use of this column allows mannitol to be strongly retained with minimal interferences. These advantages have led to many publications that can be found in the reference section of the application note.

Certain carbohydrates such as mannitol, rhamnose, xylose, 3-O-methylglucose, and lactulose can be determined in urine and serum samples to evaluate disease states in animals and humans. These carbohydrates can be determined directly by HPAE-PAD, a well-established technique that eliminates the need for derivitization, in turn saving time and money. In this work, the separation and detection of the same carbohydrates of interest discussed in AN 1006 are demonstrated using a capillary Dionex CarboPac PA20 anion-exchange column on the ICS-4000 Dedicated Capillary HPIC system.

A fast method using the Dionex CarboPac SA10 column was tested for determining the common coffee carbohydrates. This column achieves fast, high resolution separation of mono- and disaccharides commonly found in food samples. The Dionex CarboPac SA10 column is composed of a wide-pore macroporous substrate coated with a strong anion-exchange latex of nano-beads. The combination of the high capacity provided by the substrate and the new internal chemistry of the nano-bead functionality delivers high resolution and short analysis time for the common sugars of interest in food and beverages.