Determination of sulphonated azo dyes in food by ion-pair liquid chromatography with photodiode array and electrospray mass spectrometry detection.

An ion-pair liquid chromatography method with on-line photodiode-array and electrospray mass spectrometry detection was developed to determine 10 commonly used sulphonated azo dyes (Tartrazine, Amaranth, New Coccine, Sunset Yellow FCF, Allura Red AC, Ponceau R, Ponceau 3R, Orange I, Orange II and Metanil Yellow) in food. A reversed phase C(18) column with gradient elution was utilized to separate these compounds. Triethylamine was added in the mobile phase as an ion-pair reagent for chromatographic separation. Photodiode-array detection was employed for quantitative determination and electrospray mass spectrometry was used for identification. Good linearity (0.05-10 ppm, r(2)=0.999) and detection limit (<0.01 ppm) were determined with 5 mul injection. In addition, precision and accuracy associated with this newly developed method will be presented. A liquid extraction method was also developed to extract these dyes from different foodstuffs. The application of this method was demonstrated by analyzing sulphonated azo dyes in soft drinks, fruit jam, and salted vegetables.