Determining High-Intensity Sweeteners in White Spirits Using an Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatograph with a Photo-Diode Array Detector and Charged Aerosol Detector

Abstract

In China, white spirit is not only an alcoholic drink but also a cultural symbol. A novel and accurate method for simultaneously determining nine sweeteners (most authorized for use in China) in white spirits by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with a photo-diode array detector (PDA) and charged aerosol detector (CAD) was developed. The sweeteners were acesulfame, alitame, aspartame, dulcin, neotame, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, saccharin, sodium cyclamate, and sucralose. The sweeteners were separated within 16 min using a BEH C18 column and linear gradient-elution program. The optimized method allowed low concentrations (micrograms per gram) of sweeteners to be simultaneously detected. The CAD gave good linearities (correlation coefficients > 0.9936) for all analytes at concentrations of 0.5 to 50.0 μg/g. The limits of detection were 0.16 to 0.77 μg/g. Acesulfame, dulcin, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, and saccharin were determined using the PDA detector, which gave correlation coefficients > 0.9994 and limits of detection of 0.16 to 0.22 μg/g. The recoveries were 95.1% to 104.9% and the relative standard deviations were 1.6% to 3.8%. The UHPLC-PDA-CAD method is more convenient and cheaper than LC-MS/MS methods. The method was successfully used in a major project called “Special Action against Counterfeit and Shoddy white spirits” and to monitor risks posed by white spirits in China.