Determination of Six Synthetic Dyes in Sports Drinks by Dispersive Solid-Phase Extraction and HPLC-UV-Vis

Abstract

A simple, fast and efficient method was developed for determination of six synthetic dyes (Tartrazine, Sunset Yellow, Amaranth, Ponceau 4R, Indigo Carmine and Brilliant Blue) in sports drinks using dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) with the polymeric sorbent Oasis ® HLB. Sample preparation using d-SPE permitted to simplify the procedure and use less sorbent in comparison with SPE. The use of a syringe for the elution step make this easier and avoid the use of a manifold. High performance liquid chromatography with UV-Vis detection was employed for quantification. Recovery results, evaluated at 0.5; 1.0 and 1.5 mg L -1 , were between 76 and 108% with relative standard deviation < 18%. The method limit of quantification was 0.5 mg L -1 . The developed method was applied to the analysis of commercial sports drinks and the results indicated that all studied samples presented dye levels in conformity with the Brazilian legislation. Keywords: food additives, beverages, d-SPE, sample preparation, liquid chromatography IntroductionSports drinks are specially formulated for people who are undertaking physical activity, being mainly composed by carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins.1 Additives such as flavors, stabilizers and dyes are commonly used in sports drinks to prevent for spoilage and improve their consumer characteristics and appearance. Nevertheless, this addition must not change the properties of the final product.2 Synthetic dyes are a very important class of food additives.3 Besides the lower cost of production in relation to dyes of natural origin, synthetic colorants have several advantages such as high stability to light, oxygen and pH, color uniformity and low microbiological contamination. 4 However, some of these compounds pose adverse health effects (allergy, asthma, hyperactivity, thyroid tumors, etc.), especially when consumed in excess. Thus, their use is strictly controlled around the world. 5 The list of allowable kinds and concentrations of synthetic dyes is different in each country or region, mainly due to differing opinions regarding the safety of these substances and due to a greater or lesser consumption of artificially colored products.6 In Brazil, the maximum limit of colorants in foods including sports drinks is established by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (ANVISA), based on international regulations. 7In general, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods with ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), diode-array (DAD) and mass spectrometry detection have been employed for synthetic dyes analysis to ensure food safety. Despite the wide variety of cartridges commercially available for preparation/purification of foods matrices, SPE steps can be laborious and often requires vacuum or positive-pressure manifold to perform the extraction. 17,18 Other methods based on the traditional SPE, such as dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) and magnetic solid-phase extraction (M-SPE), are considered powerful techniques specially for clean-up of food extracts. 8 However, ...

Validation of an analytical method for determination of eight food dyes in beverage and fruit roll-ups by ion-pair HPLC-DAD

“…In a study, Zamani Mazdeh et al separated 8 synthetic colors by reverse chromatography in which the LOD and LOQ ranged from 0.357 to 0.873 and 1.082 to 2.646 mg/kg, respectively, which were higher compared with the current study. Floriano et al reported 0.15 and 1.154 mg/L for LOD and LOQ, respectively, for synthetic colors in sport drinks using RP-HPLC, which are higher compared with the current study (23,24). Feng et al have reported higher LOD for tartrazine and Ponceau 4R colors as well as lower LOD for Indigo, Sunset yellow, Allura red, Quinoline yellow, Brilliant blue, and Carmoisine compared with our study (25).…”

MWCNT‐modified Electrode for Voltammetric Determination of Allura Red and Brilliant Blue FCF in Isotonic Sport Drinks

“…Although several studies determined the content of sugars in isotonic sport drinks or their capability of hydration, among others, only a few studies were focused on the determination of food colorants in sport drinks . In that context, this work provides new information concerning the content of colorants in this type of commercial drink.…”

Pyridine ionic liquid functionalized bimetallic MOF solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for separation/analysis sunset yellow

“…To further evaluate the performance of the present method, four previously reported methods for determining sunset yellow [38][39][40][41] in different matrices were compared with the present method and the detailed results are summarized in Table 2. The linear range and LOD were comparable to those in the previously reported methods, demonstrating the reliability of the proposed method.…”