Micellar electrokinetic chromatography as a screening method for the analysis of vanilla flavourings and vanilla extracts

As a general example of the potential use of micellar elektrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) in food analysis, a rapid method for the determination of vanillin and related compounds and possible synthetic additives to vanilla flavourings by MEKC is described as a screening method for quality control. Under optimized conditions, baseline separation of nine vanilla constituents and three possible adulterants is possible within 9 min. The method was applied to additives to bakery products and flavoured beverages. The influence of organic solvents in the sample solution on peak shapes and migration times was investigated. Detection limits and precision of the method are given. It was shown that the use of an internal standard substantially increases the precision of the method. The linear calibration range covers two orders of magnitude with the use of an internal standard.