Total Sugars Content Testing in Tea

They are not only the energy and fuel for plants and animals but also the intermediate products of metabolic processes and play a very important role in biological processes. The sugars in tea include monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and a small number of other sugars, which are one of the components of the taste and aroma of tea soup and are the main sweetness component of tea soup. Sugars are often added to tea beverages as additives to adjust the aroma and taste of tea beverages. The type and content of sugars in tea varies from one tea to another. Therefore, the analysis of sugars is an essential part of analyzing tea quality components.

Solutions

The soluble sugars in tea account for about 4% of the dry matter, of which monosaccharides and disaccharides are the main components of tea soluble sugars, and the free monosaccharides in tea are very small. Since sugars are not the characteristic substances of tea, the research on sugars in tea at home and abroad is not as systematic and in-depth as polyphenols and caffeine. Our experts not only focus on the extraction, separation, and purification of tea polysaccharides and their physiological effects but also are very interested in analyzing tea sugars. We mainly test the total sugar content in tea according to national standards. Tea total sugar content test items include the following:

As a recognized leader in tea testing, Lifeasible can help you develop the best solution for fast and reliable detection of total sugar content in tea. We have established clear and straightforward methods to detect total sugar content in tea, including:

• Chemical analysis methods. For example, chemical titration can only measure one type of sugar, such as reducing sugars, but not one or even several sugars at the same time. The enzyme colorimetric method and enzyme electrode method can be used for the specific analysis of glucose. Spectrophotometric methods can determine the total sugars in a sample. These methods can be used to obtain total analytical results for monosaccharides.
• Gas chromatography (GC) and gas-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. GC-MS can be used for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of complex sugars, and the composition and approximate branching of monosaccharides in polysaccharide samples can be understood.
• Ion exchange chromatography. Ion exchange chromatography is one of the main methods for analyzing glycans, and almost all monosaccharides and most oligosaccharides and oligosaccharides can be analyzed.
• Gel chromatography (GPC). Gel chromatography is commonly used to determine the purity and molecular weight of large polysaccharides with rapidity, high resolution, and good reproducibility.
• High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). HPLC has become the most essential method for analyzing sugars because of its various separation modes, which can meet most of the different sugars. The following modes of HPLC methods are commonly used: HPLC with HPLCRID, HPLC with HPLCELSD, HPLC with UV/diode array detector, and fluorescence detector derivatization.
• High performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) method. HPCE allows the direct determination of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides. The HPCE method is commonly used in the HPCE separation of sugars, which is highly efficient, rapid, low solvent consumption, and highly resistant to contamination.
• Mass spectrometry (MS) method. ESI-MS is used for the structural analysis of sugars. It can detect the non-derivatized sugars, distinguish the oligosaccharides as O- or N-, determine the structure, polymerization, and composition of oligosaccharides, and accurately determine the molecular weight of glycoproteins, the sequence and structural homogeneity of oligosaccharides.

Glycans, especially water-soluble sugars, are important components of tea quality. We provide stable, rapid, and widely applicable standard methods for the determination of total sugar content in tea based on HPLC for quantitative analysis, which is of great importance for establishing the quality of tea. Our efficient customer-focused service will guarantee the quality of your results and save you time and money. If you are interested in our solutions, please contact us for technical consultation and quotation.