13C-IRIS: An improved method to detect the addition of low levels of C4-derived sugars to juices

Abstract

A method to improve the detection of cane or corn sugar addition to fruit juices has been developed. This involves the isolation of the individual sugars and measurement of their carbon isotope ratios. Using the Isotopic Relations of Individual Sugars approach, the additions of cane sucrose or cane invert as low as 4% of the total sugars can be detected in orange juice. This method offers a significant improvement over the conventional carbon isotopic method that has a detection limit of about 10%.