Tartrazine (E102), a synthetic azo dye, is extensively utilized across diverse industrial sectors. Understanding the mechanisms of tartrazine degradation and identifying its breakdown products are essential for assessing its environmental fate and potential health risks. Tartrazine is studied in this work in terms of: (i) determining its concentration in a commercial food dye by use the Briggs–Rauscher (BR) oscillatory (clock) reaction as seldom-employed analytical method, (ii) examining its degradation in a highly oxidative system, such as the BR oscillatory reaction, using Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, and (iii) monitoring the degradation process in the BR system at different magnifications using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) obtained for the BR reaction were higher than those determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Both methods determined comparable concentrations of tartrazine in the food dye. Based on the results obtained, the reaction mechanism for tartrazine degradation in the clock reaction was proposed. The findings strongly support the BR reaction as an easily available method for determining unknown concentrations of tartrazine in commercial food dyes. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential of the BR reaction for determining microconcentrations and for the rapid degradation of commercial food dyes.
Senćanski et al. (2026) studied this question.