Abstract: A HPLC method with refractive index detection (RID) was developed for determination of sugars in bee pollen. Sugars were extracted from samples with water by ultrasonic oscillation and isolated by solid phase extraction with SUPELCO ENVITM cartridge after protein precipitation by using K4Fe(CN)6 and Zn(CH3COO)2. Sugars were separated on a Waters high performance carbohydrate column with acetonitrile-water(79:21, V/V) as mobile phase. The relative standard deviations are 2.4%～4.3% and the recoveries are 90.4%～96.2%. The HPLC method was applied for the analysis of 80 bee pollen samples from 8 species. The average concentrations of fructose and glucose are 10.9%～12.6% and 6.8%～9.6%, respectively. The method is simple and suitable for routine quality control of bee pollen sugar composition.

Key words: bee pollen, HPLC, sugar