Analysis and Stability of Sucralose in a Milk-Based Confection by a Simple Planar Chromatographic Method

Abstract

Sucralose used as high potency sweetener in foods was determined in burfi, a milk-based confection produced in-house. Therefore planar chromatography was employed as a preferred method because of a reagent-free derivatization step. Sucralose was determined on HPTLC amino plates whose amino groups reacted with sucralose to fluorescent zones by just heating the plate after chromatography. Thus derivatization was simultaneously performed for 22 separations per plate, and with ease, over 300 runs can be performed within a day of labor. The within-run precision (%RSD) of sucralose determination in milk-based confection was 4.2% (n = 5), and the mean recovery 88% +/- 4.7% (n = 6). LOD via fluorescence measurement was 6 ng/band for standard solutions and 1 mg/kg for the milk-based matrix. According to European legislation, the limits for sucralose addition ranged between 10 and 3000 mg/kg for various foods and thus were fully met with this method. The fluorescence measurement at 366/>400 nm turned out to be slightly more robust and intense than the absorbance measurement at UV 254 nm. The stability of sucralose in milk-based confection was proved under the usual storage conditions at 5, 30, and 45 degrees C for up to 28 days. Potential hydrolysis products of sucralose caused by various modes of storing the confection were not observed up to 28 days.