Determination of ascorbic acid in beers by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection was developed for the determination of ascorbic acid in beers at the nanogram level. The column was packed with C18 bonded silica, commercially available or prepared in the laboratory. The eluent was a citrate buffer solution with an ion-pairing reagent. Several fatty amines were tested as such reagents. Good recoveries indicated that no interfering substances were eluted together with ascorbic acid. The main advantages are the rapid and simple preparation of the samples and the specificity and sensitivity of the detector, which are superior to those of any other detection systems proposed for the determination of ascorbic acid in beers.