Method development and analysis of retail foods and beverages for carotenoid food colouring materials E160a(ii) and E160e.
An analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection was developed and applied to the determination of the permitted food colour additives beta-carotene(E160a(ii)) and beta-apo-8'-carotenal (E160e) in foods and beverages. The scope of previously reported methods has been broadened to cover a wide range of retail foods and enzymatic hydrolysis has been used in place of saponification for high-fat samples. Quantitative results (greater then 0.1 mg kg(-1)) are given for the major colour principals trans-beta-apo-8'-carotenal and trans-beta-carotene. Semiquantitative results are given for the various cis-isomers of each colorant for which authentic reference standards were not available. The method has been used successfully for the analysis of a wide range of foodstuffs with differing fat content without the need for saponification, except for moderate- to high-fat foodstuffs containing significant levels of emulsifiers, for which it was limited. The results suggest that beta-apo-8'-carotenal (E160e) does not have widespread use in the UK. None of the samples exhibited a total beta-carotene content greater than 20 mg kg(-1) and none of the high-fat samples and only one of the 17 low-fat/beverage samples contained total beta-carotene at levels less than 0.1 mg kg(-1). The total beta-carotene contents of the low-fat/beverage samples ranged from 0.4 +/- 0.03 to 8.4 i 0.71 mg kg(-1), and the total beta-carotene contents of the high-fat samples ranged from 0.1 +/- 0.01 (jelly confectionery) to 18.5 +/- 0.98 mg kg(-1) (processed cheese).
Scotter
M J
MJ
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton, York, UK. m.scotter@csl.gov.uk
Castle
L
L
Croucher
J M
JM
Olivier
L
L
D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis; D001628:Beverages / Q000032:analysis; D002182:Candy / Q000032:analysis; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000032:analysis*; D002611:Cheese / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005505:Food Coloring Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007054:Ice Cream / Q000032:analysis; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000032:analysis
D000975:Antioxidants; D005505:Food Coloring Agents; C110652:beta-apo-8'-carotenal; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids