Abstract: An ion chromatography method for the determination of three sugars, four preservatives and one edulcorant in beverages using valve switching technique was established. After simple pretreatment, the sample was injected into an IonPac? AS11-HC (4 mm × 250 mm) separation column. By setting an appropriate valve switching time, the carbohydrates with weak retention in the AS11-HC column were first washed out and collected in a quantitative loop. The preservatives retained strongly were gradually washed out by the eluent and detected by a UV detector. The carbohydrates collected were then rinsed into a CarboPac? PA10 (4 mm × 250 mm) column and separated using NaOH eluent for electrochemical detection. The experimental results showed that the regression coefficients (r2) of the calibration curves were more than 0.999 0 in the range of 0.5–2.5 mg/L. The reproducibility expressed as relative standard derivation (RSD) was less than 6.72%, and the recovery ranged between 80.0% and 120.0%. The method can be widely applied to quality control or the detection of components in final products in the beverage industry.

Key words: preservative, sugar, edulcorant, valve switching technique