Abstract: A gas chromatographic method using pre-column derivatization was described for the quantitative analysis of fructose, glucose, sucrose, chiro-, scyllo- and myo-inositol in different citrus juices. Juices from different fresh citrus (loose-skin mandarin, sweet orange, pummelo, lemon and kumquat) were prepared in the laboratory. Inositols and carbohydrates were analyzed by GC as their oximes derivatives and their identities were confirmed by retention of pure standards. The method was evaluated for precision and recovery using methyl-α-D-glucoside as an internal standard. The recoveries of the method evaluated at two spiked levels were in the range of 98.1%－106.9% with RSDs from 0.6%－6.1%. The limits of detection (LODs) were from 0.29×10-3－0.41×10-3 μg/L (RSN＝3). The results support the suitability of the method. The method is simple, quick and reproducible, and applicable to confirm inositols and carbohydrates in different kinds of citrus juice.

Key words: gas chromatography (GC), inositol, citrus juice, internal standard