Determination of Sucralose Using HPAE-PAD

INTRODUCTION Sucralose is used in the manufacture of nonnutritive sweetened food and beverage products. Sucralose, like most carbohydrates, lacks a good chromophore and therefore requires high concentrations to be detected by UV absorbance. Many food and beverage ingredients are chromophoric and can interfere with the direct detection of sucralose by absorbance. Refractive index detection has similar limitations. Carbohydrates, glycols, alcohols, amines, and sulfur-containing compounds can be oxidized and therefore directly detected by amperometry. This detection method is specific for those analytes that can be oxidized at a selected potential, leaving all other compounds undetected. Pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) is a powerful detection technique with a broad linear range and very low detection limits. High-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAE) is a technique capable of separating most carbohydrates and their analogues. For complex samples containing mixtures of sucralose and biologically derived material, such as foods and beverages, the high resolving power of HPAE and the specificity of PAD allow the determination of sucralose with little interference from other ingredients. This application note describes the use of HPAEPAD to determine sucralose in food and beverage samples. Red Raspberry Diet Rite is a soft drink artificially sweetened with sucralose. This beverage also contains natural and artificial flavors, organic compounds (potassium benzoate and citrate), food dye, and another nonnutritive sweetener (acesulfame potassium). Splenda is a solid artificial sweetener used as a sugar substitute and consists of dextrose, maltodextrin, and sucralose. These model food and beverage samples present a great challenge for most chromatographic methods. In this application note, the CarboPacTM PA20 anion-exchange column is used to separate sucralose from other ingredients in Red Raspberry Diet Rite and Splenda.