Validation of a rapid and sensitive HPLC/MS method for measuring sucrose, fructose and glucose in plant tissues

Sucrose and its constituent components, glucose and fructose, are major determinants of sweetness in fruits and cooking quality in plant storage organs, such as potato tubers. Accurate monitoring of these sugars provides a predictive assessment of plant product quality. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled to a variety of detectors has been the method of choice for selective detection and quantitation of sugars in plant tissues. However, sugar extraction can be time-consuming to obtain a clean and concentrated sample suitable for accurate quantitation. Herein, we took advantage of a modern HPLC system coupled to a highly sensitive high-resolution high-accuracy mass spectrometer to develop a rapid method for measuring glucose, fructose, and sucrose in plant tissues. The method was validated in mature potato tubers and strawberry fruits and it proved to be highly accurate and robust with minimal sample care requirements.