Major Carbohydrate, Polyol, and Oligosaccharide Profiles of Agave Syrup. Application of this Data to Authenticity Analysis

Nineteen pure agave syrups representing the three major production regions and four processing facilities in Mexico were analyzed for their major carbohydrate, polyol, and oligosaccharide profiles, as well as their physicochemical properties (pH, degrees Brix, total acidity, percent total titratable acidity, and color). Additionally, the detection of intentional debasing of agave syrup with four commercial nutritive sweeteners (HFCS 55 and 90, DE 42 and sucrose) was afforded by oligosaccharide profiling employing both high performance anion exchange liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAE-PAD) and capillary gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (CGC-FID). Results showed that the major carbohydrate and polyol in agave syrups were fructose and inositol with mean concentrations of 84.29% and 0.38%, respectively. Oligosaccharide profiling was extremely successful for adulteration detection with detection limits ranging from 0.5 to 2.0% for the aforementioned debasing agents. Also, all four of these possible adulterants could be detected within a single chromatographic analysis.