MICELLAR ELECTROKINETIC CAPILLARY CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS IN LOW-JOULE SOFT DRINKS AND OTHER FOODS

A rapid method for the determination of artificial sweeteners in low-Joule soft drinks and other foods by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) is described. Caffeine, benzoic acid and sorbic acid, which are often added to soft drinks, can also be determined with this procedure. The artificial sweeteners, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, alitame and dulcin, and the other food additives are well separated in less than 12 min using an uncoated fused-silica capillary column with a buffer consisting of 0.05 M sodium deoxycholate, 0.01 M potassium dihydrogenorthophosphate, 0.01 M sodium berate operating at 20 kV. Dehydroacetic acid was used as the internal standard for the determinations. The levels of artificial sweeteners, preservatives and caffeine were in good agreement with those determined by the high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure currently used in our Laboratory. The MEKC procedure has the same order of repeatability, is faster and less costly to operate than the HPLC method.