It is important to choose what and how much we consume. The physiological effects of the individual sugars are not the same, therefore it may be useful from a dietetic point of view to distinguish between different sugars, mono- and disaccharides, or to determine their amount present in different beverages and foods. In an article written with colleagues from MATE, we present the possibilities of near-infrared spectroscopy in the detection of fructose, which is referred to in several places as a sugar of public health risk, from pure aqueous solutions containing other sugars.
Near-infrared spectroscopy: rapid and effective tool for measuring fructose content
Haruna Gado Yakubu, Zoltán Kovács, Flóra Vitális, George Bázár
Since high fructose intake was found to be associated with increased health risks, it is important to raise awareness towards the amount of this widely used sugar within foods and beverages. The rapid and accurate detection and quantification of sugar types is not an easy task using conventional laboratory technologies. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been proven to be a useful tool in this regard, and the present study highlights the applicability of this rapid correlative analytical technology in the measurement of fructose concentration against that of other sugars in aqueous solutions of sweeteners. The presented NIR calibrations are accurate for the relative measure of °Brix (R² = 0.84), and the direct measurement of the individual sugars (R² > 0.90) even in solutions with multiple sugars.
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