Abstract: Fructose, glucose and sucrose contents in sugarcane internodes were determined using high performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detector (RID). The chromatographic separation was achieved on an Agilent Zorbax carbohydrate column (4.6 mm× 250 mm, 5 μm), which was held at a constant temperature of 30 ℃, using a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water (75:25, V/V) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. RID temperature was set as 35 ℃. Average spike recoveries for 5 replicate determinations of three saccharides were found in a range of 97.84% to 99.12%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) between 0.82% and 0.87%. The developed calibration curves displayed good linearity over a concentration range of 0.625 to 20 mg/mL, with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.9982 (n = 6). This method has been applied to determine two different varieties sugarcane internodes with satisfying results.

Key words: HPLC, sugarcane internode, fructose, glucose, sucrose