Determination of the fructose, glucose and sucrose content in honey. These sugars are present in nectar, but in different proportions (more fructose and glucose; less sucrose).

 

The bee treats the honey by adding enzymes so that the sugar composition changes. For fructose + glucose there is a legal minimum of 60%, while there is a legal maximum of 5% for sucrose. 

 

An exception is made for orange blossom and acacia honey (10%).

The sugars are determined chromatographically.  The sugars are separated by an HPLC and detected by a differential refractometer.Standards are used to draw up a standard measure which can then be used to determine the fructose, glucose and sucrose content of the sample. 

 

The F/G proportion is used to add the designation of the honey: liquid or solid honey.