The resulting sample was subjected to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC -Varian ProStar) with an exclusion column (BIORAD-Aminex ion exclusion HPX -87H, 300 × 7.8 mm). A pre-column (BIORAD-Aminex HPX -85) protects the separation column. The eluent used in the mobile phase was the sulfuric acid (5 mmol/L) at room temperature with 0.6 mL/minute flow, attached to an UV-visible light detector at a wavelength of 210 nm. Each sample injected contained 50 μL volume.
The retention time of the organic acids and the peak area of the substances were calculated by ProStar Varian software providing their concentrations in the sample. Organic acids were identified accordingly to their retention time and to the calibration previously performed in HPLC (Bezerra et al., 1999) (link).