Carbonation sugars analysis, various

The acid condensation methods do not distinguish between monosaccharides and polysaccharides, as the various classes of carbohydrates each have different absorption maxima, which results in different molar absorptions at any chosen wavelength. Furthermore, when treated with concentrated sulfuric acid, some three- and four-carbon compounds will condense into structures which will produce colours with those reagents. When the object of the analysis is to obtain some estimate of the total amount of carbohydrate or carbohydratelike material present, the inclusiveness of these methods is useful. However, when the object is to distinguish between the easily metabolised simple sugars and the complex storage and structural materials, these methods give no information at all. 

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