Simultaneous determination of sweeteners and preservatives in preserved fruits by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A micellar electrokinetic capillary method for the simultaneous determination of the sweeteners dulcin, aspartame, saccharin, and acesulfame-K and the preservatives sorbic acid; benzoic acid; sodium dehydroacetate; and methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl-, and isobutyl-p-hydroxybenzoate in preserved fruits is developed. These additives are ion-paired and extracted using sonication followed by solid-phase extraction from the sample. Separation is achieved using a 57-cm fused-silica capillary with a buffer comprised of 0.05 M sodium deoxycholate, 0.02 M borate-phosphate buffer (pH 8.6), and 5% acetonitrile, and the wavelength for detection is 214 nm. The average recovery rate for all sweeteners and preservatives is approximately 90% with good reproducibility, and the detection limits range from 10 to 25 microg/g. Fifty preserved fruit samples are analyzed for the content of sweeteners and preservatives. The sweeteners found in 28 samples was aspartame (0.17-11.59 g/kg) or saccharin (0.09-5.64 g/kg). Benzoic acid (0.02-1.72 g/kg) and sorbic acid (0.27-1.15 g/kg) were found as preservatives in 29 samples.