Sugar Alcohols Analysis Service

Sugar alcohols are acyclic polyols. The term acyclic polyol refers to a straight-
chain, polyhydric alcohol, and, along with alditol, sugar alcohol, polyalcohol
and polyhydric alcohol is commonly used in reference to the reduction
products of sugars and closely related derivatives. In these compounds the
aldehyde or keto group of a sugar is reduced to a hydroxyl group. Most
acyclic polyols have both trivial and systematic chemical names, being named
for their original source and the sugar from which they are derived, e.g.,
maltitol (from maltose). Nomenclature can, however, be complicated and
more detailed discussions are available.

Figure. Structure of sugar alcohols.

As major constituents of marine phytoplankton and macroalgae, as well as

most fungi, sugar alcohols contribute significantly to the world's carbon
economy. It has been estimated that about 30% of annual global primary
production goes through sugar alcohols instead of sugars. And this does not
take into account catabolism back to CO2 through rots and decays where the
fungi are undoubtedly major agents. Probable physiological functions of sugar
alcohols include storage of reduced carbon and reducing power, regulation of
coenzymes, osmoregulation and service as compatible solutes. Evidence for
such roles comes primarily from work done with fungi and animals.
There is very limited evidence for the physiological roles of these enzymes,
but the data suggest that sugar alcohols synthesis and utilization proceed by
different pathways and enzymes. Sorbitol, for example, is only slowly
metabolized in fully expanded pear leaves, and there are similar data for
mannitol in mature celery leaves. The sorbitol results suggested that source
tissues, e.g., fully expanded green leaves, would primarily contain the
NADPH-dependent aldose 6-phosphate reductase plus a specific
phosphatase that constitute a synthetic pathway, while the NADP +-dependent
sorbitol dehydrogenase responsible for oxidation and eventual utilization
would primarily be found in sink tissues. A developing leaf would represent a
transition between these two situations. Confirming this, as a leaf undergoes
development from sink to source, there is a striking increase in aldose 6-
phosphate reductase and a similar decrease in sorbitol dehydrogenase. In
such systems the roles for the NADP+-dependent sorbitol dehydrogenase and
the sorbitol oxidase reported by Yamaki are difficult to define, but recent
evidence suggests that these two enzymes play minor roles in sorbitol
metabolism.
Chemically, physically and biologically the sugar alcohols (hereafter polyols)
closely resemble the sugars from which they are derived and it is usually
convenient to regard them as special kinds of sugars or carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, many techniques used by physiologists for carbohydrate
analyses do not reveal the presence of polyols. Gas and high pressure liquid
chromatography can, however, be used to separate and identify all the
polyols, and enzymic analysis is available for sorbitol. Here Creative
 Proteomics provides highly sensitive and reliable HPLC method for the
quantification of sugar alcohols.
Platform
 HPLC
Summary
 Identification and quantification of sugar alcohols
Report
 A detailed technical report will be provided at the end of the whole project,
including the experiment procedure, MS/MS instrument parameters.
 Analytes are reported as uM or ug/mg (tissue), and CV's are generally<10%.
 The name of the analytes, abbreviation, formula, molecular weight and CAS#
would also be included in the report.