Determination of Furfural and Hydroxymethyl furfural by UV Spectroscopy in ethanol-water hydrolysate of Reed

In this paper a quick method was developed to determine separate furfural and HMF concentrations simultaneously in ethanol-water hydrolysate of reed based on UV spectroscopy. Acid soluble lignin and other interfering substances were first removed by distillation as residue. The distillate was then used for the determination of furfural and HMF by measuring the maximum absorption wavelength and the absorbance at the wavelength. Results showed that the maximum absorption wavelength of the characteristic peak correlated well with the composition of furfural and HMF mixture in an ethanol-water solution, and the absorbance at the maximum absorption wavelength also had an excellent linear relationship with the sum concentration of furfural and HMF in the solution. The separate concentrations of furfural and HMF in a mixture solution could be determined by applying these correlations.