METHOD OF IDENTIFYING CARBOHYDRATES Russian patent published in 2010 - IPC G01N30/90 

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: method of identifying carbohydrates involves determination of content of glucose, lactose, galactose, fructose and tagatose through thin layer chromatography on Sordfil plates. The plates are pre-saturated with 0.5 mol/dm³ solution of sodium dihydrophosphate (NaH₂PO₄) and then dried. A microsyringe is then used to collect 0.001 cm³ of carbohydrate solution which is then deposited on the starting line on the chromatographic plate, dried in air and lowered into a solvent. The solvent used is a mixture of acetone, isopropyl alcohol and a lactic acid solution with concentration of 1 mol/dm in volume ratio of 2:2:1. Chromatographic separation takes 80-90 minutes. When the solvent reaches the elution boundary, the plate is dried again at room temperature until complete evaporation of the solvent. The dried plate is then treated with a solution mixture of concentrated phosphoric acid - aniline - diphenylamine in volume ratio of components equal to 3:2:1. Carbohydrates are identified from the shift coefficient (R_f) which is calculated using the formula: R_f=X/X_f, where X is the shift front of the identified carbohydrate; X_f is the shift front of the solvent.

EFFECT: method enables rapid identification of glucose, lactose, galactose, fructose and tagatose separately and during their combined presence with high degree of reproducibility and accuracy.

1 tbl, 2 ex