Determination of sugars and alditols in tobacco with high performance anion-exchange chromatography.

Sugars, alditols, and alcohols in tobacco products were quantified utilizing a method of high-performance anion-exchange chromatography-pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The optimized analytical method can be used to classify different tobaccos and control the quality of tobaccos. To substantiate the applicability of the method, the analysis of 27 tobacco samples with satisfactory linearity, repeatability, and accuracy had been demonstrated. Compared with some other analytical methods for tobacco, the HPAEC-PAD method provided a simple and powerful tool for the analysis of not only sugars but also alcohols in tobacco extracts.