Simultaneous determination of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in food and pharmaceutical preparations by ion chromatography

Simultaneous determination of saccharin and aspartame in commercial noncaloric sweeteners using the PLS-2 multivariate calibration method and validation by capillary electrophoresis

A new method to determine a mixture for sweetener sodium saccharin and aspartame in commercial noncaloric sweeteners is proposed. A classical full factorial design for standards was used in the calibration step to build the partial least-squares (PLS-2) model. Instrumental data were obtained by means of UV-visible spectrophotometry. Salicylic acid was used as an internal standard to evaluate the adjustment of the real samples to the PLS model. The concentration of analytes in the commercial samples was evaluated using the obtained model by UV spectral data. The PLS-2 method was validated by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), finding in all cases a relative error of less than 11% between the PLS-2 and the CZE methods. The proposed procedure was applied successfully to the determination of saccharin and aspartame in noncaloric commercial sweeteners.

Rapid determination of caffeine in one drop of beverages and foods using drop-to-drop solvent microextraction with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A simple and rapid sample cleanup and preconcentration method for the quantitative determination of caffeine in one drop of beverages and foods by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been proposed using drop-to-drop solvent microextraction (DDSME). The best optimum experimental conditions for DDSME were: chloroform as the extraction solvent, 5 min extraction time, 0.5 microL exposure volume of the extraction phase and no salt addition at room temperature. The optimized methodology exhibited good linearity between 0.05 and 5.0 microg/mL with correlation coefficient of 0.980. The relative standard deviation (RSD) and limits of detection (LOD) of the DDSME/GC/MS method were 4.4% and 4.0 ng/mL, respectively. Relative recovery of caffeine in beverages and foods were found to be 96.6-101%, which showing good reliability of this method. This DDSME excludes the major disadvantages of conventional method of caffeine extraction, like large amount of organic solvent and sample consumption and long sample pre-treatment process. So, this approach proves that the DDSME/GC/MS technique can be applied as a simple, fast and feasible diagnosis tool for environmental, food and biological application for extremely small amount of real sample analysis.

Investigation of sorbic acid volatile degradation products in pharmaceutical formulations using static headspace gas chromatography

An analytical method that allows simultaneous analysis of sorbic acid and its degradation products was developed using static headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). AT-Aquawax-DA, the capillary column used, showed good selectivity and separation towards sorbic acid and its degradation products. Sorbic acid degradation was investigated in both acidic and aqueous media at room and elevated temperatures. In total 12 sorbic acid degradation products were found, 8 of which could be characterized. The method was investigated for its accuracy towards estimation of degradation products. Using the HS-GC method different batches of pharmaceutical preparations such as cold cream, cetomacrogol cream and vaseline were investigated for sorbic acid degradation products which were estimated by applying the standard addition method. Acetaldehyde was found to be the major degradation product. The other identified degradation products were: acetone; 2-methylfuran; crotonaldehyde; alfa-angelicalactone; 2-acetyl, 5-methylfuran; toluene and 2,5-dimethylfuran. Both mass spectrometeric (MS) and flame ionization detection (FID) were used. The qualitative investigation was done on HS-GC-MS and the quantitative work on HS-GC-FID.

Simultaneous determination of antioxidants, preservatives and sweetener additives in food and cosmetics by flow injection analysis coupled to a monolithic column

Today it is common to find samples with various additives from several families. This is the case of sweeteners, preservatives and antioxidants. We have selected a set of additives broadly used in foods and cosmetics with an ample variety of polarities, namely: aspartame (AS), acesulfame (AK)/saccharin (SA), methylparaben (MP), ethylparaben (EP), propylparaben (PP), butylparaben (BP), propylgallate (PG) and butylhydroxyanisole (BA). The monolithic column used as separative system is a 5 mm commercial precolumn of silica C18 coupled to a flow injection manifold working with a peristaltic pump. The mixture was separated in only 400 s with resolution factors greater than 1.1 in all cases. To achieve the separation in the FIA system we used two carriers: first, a mixture of ACN/water buffered with 10 mM pH 6.0 phosphate buffer and second, a methanol:water mixture to improve the carrier strength and speed up the more apolar analytes at 3.5 mL min(-1). Detection is accomplished by means of a diode array spectrometer at the respective wavelength of each compound. The comparison of the analytical parameters obtained for this procedure with a standard HPLC method validates our new method, obtaining a method that is quick, with high repeatability and reproducibility and with good resolution between analytes. We have successfully applied the method to real food and cosmetics samples.

Resolution of an intense sweetener mixture by use of a flow injection sensor with on-line solid-phase extraction

An integrated solid-phase spectrophotometry-FIA method is proposed for simultaneous determination of the mixture of saccharin (1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-one-1,1-dioxide; E-954) (SA) and aspartame (N-L-alpha-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester; E-951) (AS). The procedure is based on on-line preconcentration of AS on a C18 silica gel minicolumn and separation from SA, followed by measurement, at lambda = 210 nm, of the absorbance of SA which is transiently retained on the adsorbent Sephadex G-25 placed in the flow-through cell of a monochannel FIA setup using pH 3.0 orthophosphoric acid-dihydrogen phosphate buffer, 3.75x10(-3) mol L(-1), as carrier. Subsequent desorption of AS with methanol enables its determination at lambda = 205 nm. With a sampling frequency of 10 h(-1), the applicable concentration range, the detection limit, and the relative standard deviation were from 1.0 to 200.0 microg mL(-1), 0.30 microg mL(-1), and 1.0% (80 microg mL(-1), n = 10), respectively, for SA and from 10.0 to 200.0 microg mL(-1), 1.4 microg mL(-1), and 1.6% (100 microg mL(-1), n = 10) for AS. The method was used to determine the amounts of aspartame and saccharin in sweets and drinks. Recovery was always between 99 and 101%. The method enabled satisfactory determination of blends of SA and AS in low-calorie and dietary products and the results were compared with those from an HPLC reference method.

Spectrophotometric determination of caffeine and theophylline in pure alkaloids and its application in pharmaceutical formulations

A novel-coupling reagent is used for the simple and sensitive spectrophotometric determination of caffeine (CF) and theophylline (TP) in pure or pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the oxidation of CF and TP with sodium metaperiodate in the presence of acetic acid, followed by coupling with 3-methyl 2-benzo thiazolinone hydrazone hydrochloride (MBTH), to produce a blue-colored product with a lambda(max) of 630 nm. The method is reproducible and has been applied for the determination of CF and TP in the tablets. The results are comparable to those obtained with the British pharmacopoeia (BP) method. Common excipients used as additives in pharmaceutical preparations do not interfere in the proposed method.

Chemometrics-assisted UV-spectroscopic strategies for the determination of theophylline in syrups

Two spectrophotometric methods, assisted by chemometric tools, were developed for the determination of theophylline in syrups: derivative spectroscopy (DS) and partial least-squares regression (PLS), the latter using both artificial and natural calibration sets. HPLC technique was employed to apply a reference method in order to achieve a complete assessment of performance. Calibrations presented excellent analytical figures of merits (i.e. LOD ranged from 0.03 to 0.4 mg L(-1) and analytical sensitivity ranged from 1.7 to 8.3 L mg(-1)). The intermediate precision presented pooled coefficients of variation ranged between 0.54 and 1.08%. Accuracy was studied trough an elliptical joint confidence region test (EJCR) comparing the obtained values when analysing spiked real samples by the HPLC and the studied methodologies. Both studied methods can be considered acceptable for the pharmaceutical quality assurance of theophylline in syrup samples.

Separation and simultaneous determination of four artificial sweeteners in food and beverages by ion chromatography

In this paper, the separation and determination of four artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sodium cyclamate, acesulfame-K and sodium saccharin) by ion chromatography coupled with suppressed conductivity detector is reported. The four artificial sweeteners were separated using KOH eluent generator. Due to the use of eluent generator, very low conductance background conductivity can be obtained and sensitivity of sweeteners has been greatly improved. Under the experimental condition, several inorganic anions, such as F-, Cl-, NO3-, NO2-, Br-, SO4(2)-, PO4(3)- and some organic acid such as formate, acetate, benzoate, and citrate did not interfere with the determination. With this method, good linear relationship, sensitivity and reproducibility were obtained. Detection limits of aspartame, sodium cyclamate, acesulfame-K, sodium saccharin were 0.87, 0.032, 0.019, 0.045 mg/L, respectively. Rate of recovery were between 98.23 and 105.42%, 99.48 and 103.57%, 97.96 and 103.23%, 98.46 and 102.40%, respectively. The method has successfully applied to the determination of the four sweeteners in drinks and preserved fruits.

Study for luminescence performance of three methyl xanthine derivatives

In this paper, the low-temperature phosphorescence (LTP), the low-temperature fluorescence (LTF), the paper substrate room-temperature phosphorescence (PS-RTP) and the room fluorescence (RTF) properties of caffeine (CF), theophylline (TP), and theobromine (TB) are investigated and compared, and some rules are found out: their maximal excitation wavelength and emission wavelength are in the range of 270-300 nm and 395-445 nm, respectively. And the PS-RTP characters of lifetime, polarization and quanta yield are also investigated and compared. It is found that their lifetimes of PS-RTP are all in the level of 0.1s. They belong to long-life phosphorescence and their PS-RTP spectra are incompletely polarized.

Solid-phase ultraviolet sensing system for determination of methylxanthines

In this study the use of a single continuous-flow solid-phase UV spectrophotometric sensing system for determination of methylxanthines was evaluated. Two methods were developed to determine caffeine (CF) and theophylline (TP) in pharmaceuticals and CF and theobromine (TB) in food and beverages. The sensor is based on transient and sequential retention of the analytes on a hydrophobic sensing solid zone (octadecyl silane C18 gel) and detection of their intrinsic UV absorbance. Temporary sequencing of the arrival of the analytes at the sensing zone is achieved by on-line separation of one of the analytes using a pre-column of the same particulate material, placed just before the flow cell. After TB or TP had been carried toward the sensing zone (by the appropriate carrier solution), produced its transitory signal, and been eluted by the carrier, an appropriate eluting solution (25% MeOH) was used to elute CF, which was strongly retained on the minicolumn, so that its transient signal could be recorded. The sensing zone was completely regenerated with this eluting solution, and so was ready for analysis of another sample. After selecting the most suitable conditions, the sensing system was calibrated in the range 1-16 and 1-12 mg L(-1) for CF and TP-TB, respectively, giving detection limits below 0.1 mg L(-1) with RSD values less than 3%. The usefulness of this approach has been evaluated by applying it to the determination of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in different samples of food, beverages, and pharmaceutical formulations. The results were in satisfactory agreement with those obtained by use of an HPLC reference method.

Application of a capillary electrophoresis method for simultaneous determination of preservatives in pharmaceutical formulations

Preservatives are used to protect pharmaceutical formulations from microbial attack during the period of administration to the patient. Because of their biological activity, preservatives have to be identified and assayed according to the same rules as apply to active components. A number of methods for separation of preservatives are reported, to account for the heterogeneity of their chemical structures. A capillary electrophoretic method was devised for simple and simultaneous qualification and quantification of the preservatives most often included in pharmaceuticals, such as benzyl alcohol, parabens, phenol, m-cresol, chlorobutanol, thimerosal. After systematic method development, the electrophoretic conditions were defined as: 50 mM borate buffer pH 9.0 containing 20 mM SDS. Separations were performed at a temperature of 20 degrees C and with detection at 214 nm. Preservatives under examination can be analyzed within a 10 min run. The method was successfully validated and applied to the determination of preservatives in a number of pharmaceuticals. Results from the CE method were compared with those from reference methods.

Comparing micellar electrokinetic chromatography and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography for the analysis of preservatives in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products

In this study, separation and determination of nine preservatives ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic properties, which are commonly used as additives in various pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, by micellar electrokinetic chromatograpy (MEKC) and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) were compared. The effect of temperature, buffer pH, and concentration of surfactant on separation were examined. In MEKC, the separation resolution of preservatives improved markedly by changing the sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration. Temperature and pH of running buffers were used mainly to shorten the magnitude of separation time. However, in order to detect all preservatives in a single run in a MEEKC system, a microemulsion of higher pH was needed. The separation resolution was improved dramatically by changing temperature, and a higher concentration of SDS was necessary for maintaining a stable microemulsion solution, therefore the separation of the nine preservatives in MEEKC took longer than in MEKC. An optimum MEKC method for separation of the nine preservatives was obtained within 9.0 min with a running buffer of pH 9.0 containing 20 mM SDS at 25 degrees C. A separation with baseline resolution was also obtained within 16 min using a microemulsion of pH 9.5 which composed of SDS, 1-butanol, and octane, and a shorter capillary column at 34 degrees C. Finally, the developed MEKC and MEEKC methods determined successfully preservatives in various cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.

Advances in methodology for the validation of methods according to the International Organization for Standardization. Application to the determination of benzoic and sorbic acids in soft drinks by high-performance liquid chromatography

Robust chemometric techniques such as least median of squares regression, H15 Huber estimator and Lenth's method are fundamental tools in the validation of analytical methods since they contribute the strategies needed to estimate efficiently parameters such as robustness, linear range, selectivity, accuracy (trueness and precision) and the capability of detection. In addition, the capability of discrimination defined as a generalisation of the capability of detection for any nominal concentration is evaluated. The new strategy proposed is applied to the validation of a chromatographic method for use in systematic analysis.