High-performance thin-layer chromatography analysis of saccharin in foods and beverages

A simple, accurate, and inexpensive high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method has been established for analysis of saccharin in foodstuffs, for example cola drinks, lemon juices, betel nut powder, mouth fresheners, ice candy, and tabletop sweeteners. Chromatography was performed on silica-gel 60 F254 plates with chloroform-methanol-acetic acid 64:35:1 or acetone-isopropanol-acetic acid 60:39:1 as mobile phases. The bands corresponding to the saccharin were scanned in absorbance mode at 230 nm. The calibration plot showed peak area was a linear function of concentration over the range 250–1250 ng μL−1. The relationship between peak area and the amount of saccharin was evaluated by linear regression analysis. The limits of detection and quantification of saccharin were 40 and 130 ng, respectively. Mean recovery from spiked samples was 102.3% for cola drinks and 98.8% for lemon juices. Relative standard deviation (RSD) for cola drinks, lemon juices, ice candy, mouth freshener, betel nut powders, and tabletop sweeteners were 2.1, 4.2, 3.4, 3.0, 4.9, and 4.1%, respectively. The procedure was validated for analysis of saccharin in these food products.