title: A new method for rapid determination of carbohydrate and total carbon concentrations using UV spectrophotometry.
abstract: A new UV spectrophotometry based method for determining the concentration and carbon content of carbohydrate solution was developed. This method depends on the inherent UV absorption potential of hydrolysis byproducts of carbohydrates formed by reaction with concentrated sulfuric acid (furfural derivatives). The proposed method is a major improvement over the widely used Phenol-Sulfuric Acid method developed by DuBois, Gilles, Hamilton, Rebers, and Smith (1956). In the old method, furfural is allowed to develop color by reaction with phenol and its concentration is detected by visible light absorption. Here we present a method that eliminates the coloration step and avoids the health and environmental hazards associated with phenol use. In addition, avoidance of this step was shown to improve measurement accuracy while significantly reducing waiting time prior to light absorption reading. The carbohydrates for which concentrations and carbon content can be reliably estimated with this new rapid Sulfuric Acid-UV technique include: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides with very high molecular weight.
authors.affiliation: Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, United States.
authors.forename: Ammar A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Albalasmeh
authors.forename: Asmeret Asefaw
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Berhe
authors.forename: Teamrat A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ghezzehei
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis*; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D019800:Phenol / Q000737:chemistry; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000379:methods*; D013464:Sulfuric Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D019800:Phenol; D002244:Carbon; C033158:sulfuric acid
keywords: Carbohydrate; Furfural; Phenol–Sulfuric Acid; UV method