Carbohydrates are important food components affecting taste and nutrition. The determination of the types and levels of carbohydrates in foods is important for energy evaluation, nutritional labeling, and quality control and for identifying possible product adulteration.

　　Separation and detection of carbohydrates can be challenging. Simple carbohydrates are highly polar, uncharged, and as they lack a chromophore cannot be measured directly by UV absorbance detectors. HPLC with various detection techniques has been used for carbohydrate analysis, such as IR, mass spectrometry, UV or fluorescence following derivatization. Although methods utilize derivatization improve the chromatographic resolution and detector sensitivity, they can lead to increased assay variability. This poster presents two approaches for direct carbohydrate analysis, HPLC-PAD and HPLC-CAD, which solve the challenges for separation and detection without requirement for derivatization.