Improved Multianalyte Determination of the Intense Sweeteners Aspartame and Acesulfame‐K with a Solid Sensing Zone Implemented in an FIA Scheme

Abstract

A multianalyte flow‐through sensor is proposed for the simultaneous determination of aspartame (AS) and acesulfame‐K (AK) in tabletop sweeteners. The procedure is based on the transient retention of AK in the ion exchanger Sephadex DEAE A‐25 placed in the flow‐through cell of a monochannel flow injection analysis (FIA) set‐up using pH 2.70 ortophosphoric acid/sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer 0.06 M as carrier. In these conditions AS is very weakly retained, which makes it possible to measure the intrinsic ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of first AS and then AK after desorption by the carrier itself. The applicable concentration range, the detection limit, and the relative standard deviation were the following: for AS, from 10 to 100 µg mL−1; 5.65 µg mL−1; 3.4% (at 50 µg mL−1); and for AK, between 40 and 100 µg mL−1; 11.9 µg mL−1 and 1.61% (at 50 µg mL−1). The method was applied and validated satisfactorily for the determination of AS and AK blends in tabletop sweeteners. The results were compared against an HPLC reference method.