Rapid determination of nonaromatic organic acids in honey by capillary zone electrophoresis with direct ultraviolet detection

A rapid capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method with direct ultraviolet (UV) detection has been set up and developed to determine the most important nonaromatic organic acids in honey with a really simple treatment of the sample. The determination of oxalic, formic, malic, succinic, pyruvic, acetic, lactic, citric, and gluconic acids has been carried out in 4 min. The electrolyte composition was phosphate as the carrier buffer (7.5 mM NaH(2)PO(4) and 2.5 mM Na(2)HPO(4)), 2.5 mM tetradecyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (TTAOH) as electroosmotic flow modifier, and 0.24 mM CaCl(2) as selectivity modifier, with the pH adjusted at 6.40 constant value. The running voltage was -25 kV at a thermostated temperature of 25 degrees C. The injections were performed in hydrodynamic mode (30 s), and the detection mode was UV direct at 185 nm. Validation parameters of the method as detection and quantification limits, linearity, precision (repeatability and reproducibility), and recovery were also studied. The advantages related to the technique such as simplicity, short analysis times, and low consumption of chemicals as well as the good validation parameters obtained for this method permit it to be considered as adequate for routine analysis in honey.