Development of quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the measurement of sucrose in cream beverages

A method for the determination of sucrose in cream beverages by quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy was developed using the Internal Reference Method. The method of qNMR was simple and straightforward and the precision and accuracy of the method were explored. The precision of the method was examined by evaluating RSD values for the method, these values ranged from 0.7 to 8.7%. The average of the RSD values fell within 5% displaying acceptable precision of the method. Spiked samples showed a high percent recovery, falling within 97.9 – 99.3%. Percent recovery of sucrose in the cream beverages ranged from 140% to 88%, detailing low accuracy for the method likely due to the interferences from the cream beverage, which overlapped with the analyte peaks of interest. Spectra with clear peaks and low levels of interference are necessary for qNMR as it is based on the integration of the peak areas and the nature of the cream beverage samples make this difficult.