Development of a highly sensitive fluorescence reaction detection system for liquid chromatographic analysis of reducing carbohydrates

A highly sensitive post-column detection system for reducing carbohydrates in liquid chromatography was developed using guanidine as the reagent. The limit of determination for pentose, 6-deoxyhexose and reducing saccharides was 5 pmol and that for hexose, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid was 10 pmol. The calibration graphs were linear up to 1 nmol.