Multivariate data treatments were applied to mid and near infrared spectra of glucose, fructose and sucrose solutions in order to specify near infrared frequencies that characterise each carbohydrate. As a first step, the mid and near infrared regions were separately studied by performing Principal Component Analyses. While glucose, fructose and sucrose could be clearly identified on the similarity maps derived from the mid infrared spectra, only the total sugar content of the solutions was observed when using the near infrared region. Characteristic wavelengths of the total sugar content were found at 2118, 2270 and 2324 nm. In a second step, the mid and near infrared regions were jointly studied by a Canonical Correlation Analysis. As the assignments of frequencies are generally well known in the mid infrared region, it should be useful to study the relationships between the two infrared regions. Thus, the canonical patterns obtained from the near infrared spectra revealed wavelengths that characterised each carbohydrate. The OH and CH combination bands were observed at: 2088 and 2332 nm for glucose, 2134 and 2252 nm for fructose, 2058 and 2278 nm for sucrose. Although a precise assignment of the near infrared bands to chemical groups within the molecules was not possible, the present work showed that near infrared spectra of carbohydrates presented specific features.
