Determination of Artificial Sweeteners in Beverages and Special Nutritional Products Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography

This paper presents two high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods used for the separation and determination of artificial sweeteners aspartame, acesulphame K, sodium saccharin, and sodium cyclamate in beverages and special nutritional products (special food intended for specific population groups). All four compounds are soluble in aqueous solutions and can easily be separated and determined by HPLC with a diode array detector (DAD). The first method involved separation of aspartame, acesulphame K, and sodium saccharin on a C₁₈ column with an isocratic elution of phosphate buffer and acetonitrile as mobile phase. The second method was used to separate sodium cyclamate on a C₁₈ column with methanol and water as mobile phase. Under optimum conditions, both methods showed good analytical performance, such as linearity, precision, and recovery. The methods were successfully applied for the analysis of real samples of soft drinks and special nutritional products.