ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO ENTRE JARABE DE AGAVE AZUL (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) Y OTROS JARABES NATURALES COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN BLUE AGAVE SYRUP (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) AND OTHER NATURAL SYRUPS

The blue agave syrup (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) is the natural sweet substance produced by hydrolysis of fructans stored in the agave plant. This sweetener has become popular for its prebiotic capacity and low glycemic index compared to other natural syrups and honeys. The trademarks, distributors, production and commercialization of these syrups have increased; therefore, it is important to know their physical and chemical characteristics and contrast them with other products of the same type. In this study we determined the content of total soluble solids (TSS) and of humidity, pH, carbohydrate profile and some sensorial characteristics of 29 samples of blue agave and corn, sugarcane syrups, and honey. The blue agave syrup, on average, had TSS equivalent to 76 °Brix, 22 % humidity (% H) and pH 4; in contrast, honey showed the highest TSS content (82 °Brix), the lowest values of humidity (16 % H) and pH (pH 3.7). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and anion-exchange chromatography with high-performance coupled to a pulsed amperometric detector (HPAEC-PAD), showed that the blue agave syrups contains mainly fructose and fructooligosaccharides; those of corn, sugarcane, and honey contain glucose, sucrose and maltooligosaccharides with differentiated profiles.