Improvement in Analytical Methods for Determination of Sugars in Fermented Alcoholic Beverages

Table 5

Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of the four newly developed methods for the determination of sugars in the fermented alcoholic beverages.

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
MIR-PLS method	The method is applicable to determine individual sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, and maltose, with good precision and accuracy.	To apply for the analysis of real samples, the samples should be purified from potential interferences such as ethanol, phenolic compounds, proteins, amino acids, and others.
HPLC-UV method	The method is applicable to determine glucose, and it has a wider linear range and better correlation.	The method is not applicable to determine individual sugars except glucose, and it requires derivatization which is time-consuming.
HPLC-RI method	The method is applicable to determine individual sugars: glucose, fructose, and sucrose, without the matrix effect.	The method is applicable to determine individual sugars: glucose, fructose, and sucrose, but not other sugars.
Sulfuric acid method	The method is applicable to determine total sugar (carbohydrate) with good precision and accuracy.	The method is not applicable to determine individual sugars.