A Simple Approach to Analyze Sugar Nectar Composition in Flowers Using Capillary Electrophoresis and Enzymatic Assays

Despite the obvious importance of nectar, the composition of this solution remains surprisingly understudied to most of the flowers. Here we describe a simple, low-cost, and reliable methodology to analyze the three main sugars present in 210 nectar samples of Christmas Bellflowers using capillary electrophoresis (CE) and enzymatic assays. CE separation (-16 kV) was made using an electrolyte containing 36 mM NaOH pH 12, 15 mM sorbic acid, 0.5 mM hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and indirect UV detection. 72.9% of analyzed nectar samples were sucrose dominant; 13.3% sucrose rich only...