Comparative Evaluation of Major Carbohydrates in Classic and Flavored Non- Alcoholic Beers by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Refractive Index Detection: A Post-Market Surveillance

Introduction and Non-alcoholic beer is a product that is made of mixing malt or malt extract, water, hops, carbon dioxide, and permitted additives with or without sweetener. In this regard, the present study aimed to compare and evaluate major carbohydrates in classic and flavored non-alcoholic beers using high-performance liquid chromatography and refractive index detection. In this study, 45 non-alcoholic beer samples, including 15 simple classic, 15 lemon flavored, and 15 apple flavored samples were randomly collected and examined in a post-market surveillance program in Tehran in 2016. The mean scores of the concentration of fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose were reported as 216.43, 116.28, 0.0, and 104.47 mg/100 ml in the classic group and 266.46, 348.97, 0.0, and 116.02 mg/100 ml in the flavored group, respectively. The mean scores of the total concentration of carbohydrates in all of the five investigated brands were 145.5 and 243.84 mg/100 ml for the classic and flavored groups, respectively. This result showed a lower concentration of simple carbohydrates in classic non-alcoholic beers, compared to that of the flavored ones. The results of statistical analyses revealed that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of maltose concentration, as a major rbohydrate, in the classic and flavored malt products (P>0.05). There was a significant difference in the mean scores of glucose concentration between the two groups (P<0.05). Therefore, the control of simple carbohydrate profile in non-alcoholic beers regarding the nutritional value and health effects, as well as engineering, quality control, and adulteration can be crucial.