I want to perform some experiments with sugars like (sucrose, etc) although it is said that sucrose should be stored at low temperatures. But will there be any issue if I prepare the sample 1day before the experiment? Will the samples get contaminated? Will their microbial deterioration? I am not using any protein in the samples so is it ok to do the measurements in this time gap?
It depends on whether the sugar solution is prepared and stored under sterile conditions or not. If so, it may last for decades. Louis Pasteur prepared such a solution in the 1860s and it is still fine. However, if the solution is not sterile, the microorganisms will immediately start to digest the sugar. Usually, there is an adaptation phase where only few degradation takes place (and this degradation is even fewer, if the solution is stored cool). Although, I cannot evaluate whether few degradation is already a problem in your approach. If the solution is acidic or has a very high sugar concentration, it is more stable against microbial degradation.
For disaccharides I may add that especially sucrose hydrolyses quickly, if the solution is acidic. However, monosaccharides like glucose and fructose are chemically stable.
2/26/22
Dear Behera,
Paul Korner gave you a very good answer to your question. Microbes can grow in any sugar, not just sucrose, if it is stored at room temperature long enough. It's not good idea to leave sugar solutions at room temperature for too long.
Sucrose is extremely soluble in water and dissolves very quickly. At safe thing would be to make up your sucrose solution shortly before you need to use it. Alternatively, you can prepare it in advance and freeze it. In the frozen state, it will remain stable indefinitely.
The fructose moiety of sucrose is in the form of a furanose (5-membered ring), whereas the glucose portion is in the form of a pyranose (6-membered ring). The furanose moiety makes sucrose more reactive and more susceptible to acid hydrolysis than some other disaccharides; however, the hydrolysis is definitely not an instantaneous reaction, and requires some heat to occur. If it won't interfere w/ the work you plan to do with it, you can always prepare your sucrose solution in a buffer, e.g., PO4 buffer at ~pH 7. Sucrose is a neutral substance, i.e., it has essentially no acidity or basicity, so a PO4 concentration of ~25-50 mM will be more than sufficient to maintain the desired pH.
I hope this information helps you.
Bill Colonna Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA [email protected]
W.J. Colonna thank you very much for the response. It was really helpful.
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