Here HILIC method was modified for the profiling and quantification of carbohydrates in honey.

Carbohydrate composition in honey can be assessed by HILIC-MS method using a gradient elution with a solvent mixture of acetonitrile, water, and methanol on an XBridge BEH Amide XP Column. Individual chromatograms for the mono-, di-, and trisaccharide groups can be obtained. These chromatograms have excellent separation efficiency for the structurally, closely-related di- and trisaccharides in honey. Differences in the di- and trisaccharide chromatograms were found in honey samples from different countries and from different botanical origins.

The intermediate precision of less than 9% in RSD was obtained in the quantitation of fructose and glucose, and less than 16% for the low-level sucrose in honey. The recovery for the fructose and the glucose was above 90%. The LOQ of fructose, glucose, and sucrose are about 0.02 g/100 g in honey.

This method is suitable for quantitation of fructose, glucose, and sucrose and for the profiling of carbohydrate in honey for various purposes, such as quality assessment, botanical and geographical origin study, or adulteration testing.