Development of reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate in beverages

Abstract

Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for simultaneous determination of sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate in beverages was developed using high speed column. The simple and rapid reverse-phase method for quantitative determination of both preservatives was established on LiChroCART® Purospher STAR RP-18e (30 mm × 4 mm; 3 μm) column, mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH = 3.5) in volume ratio of 8:92 (v/v), flow rate of 1 mL min−1, ultraviolet (UV) detection at 195 nm for sodium benzoate and 260 nm for potassium sorbate, and constant column temperature at 25 °C. Linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of quantification (LOQ), and limit of detection (LOD) were tested for method validation. Linearity range for sodium benzoate was 6.04–200.27 mg L−1 (R2 = 0.999) while, for potassium benzoate (R2 = 0.999), 12.19–406.36 mg L−1. The RSD values ≤1.03% demonstrate excellent intra-day precision. LOD for sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate was 0.004 and 0.003 mg L−1, while LOQ was 0.012 and 0.009 mg L−1, respectively. This method was applied for quantitative determination of investigated preservatives in beverages which were taken from Macedonian markets.