A novel RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate in soft drinks using C18-bonded monolithic silica column.

Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate are food additives that are generally employed for prevention of food spoilage originating from bacteria, molds or yeasts. Although these compounds were generally recognized as safe due to their low risk of acute and chronic toxicity, they have limitations of usage to protect human health. Development and validation of a novel RP-HPLC method, in which a C18-bonded monolithic silica column was used as stationary phase to assay these compounds, is described for the first time. Aliquots of 10 μL of samples were injected into chromatograph and eluted using phosphate buffer (0.025 M, pH 2.0)-water-acetonitrile (50:45:5, v/v/v) solution, which was pumped at the rate of 3.0 mL/min. To sharpen the peaks, 10 mM octylamine was added to the mobile phase. Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate were detected at about 12(th) and 14(th) min, respectively, and quantified at 230 nm using photodiode array detector. A total of 41 samples were prepared by simply filtering through 0.45 μm filters after sonication, and injected into the system without any pre-treatment steps. Applicability of the method was demonstrated by performing total procedure on samples of different brands and types, and their compliance to official regulations was assessed.