Adjei Joseph Kweku, Ahormegah Vigil, Boateng Alex Kissi, Megbenu Harry Kwaku, Owusu Samuel
Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Department of Laboratory Technology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2020 Oct 13;6(10):e05243. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05243. eCollection 2020 Oct.
Illicit use of Sudan dyes, a group of harmful and carcinogenic azo dyes, in the food industry has taken a surge in various parts of the world, especially in Africa. Their use in food as additives pose a dire health risk to consumers and have been banned by various food regulatory bodies worldwide. To help increase surveillance, various methods have been proposed for their analysis in literature. This study also sought to experiment and propose an alternative method for quick, easy, cheap, robust and ecologically safe analysis of Sudan dyes in chilli pepper powder and similar matrices. The optimized method used a 6.0 mL mixture of acetone:acetonitrile (1:5 v/v) solvent in a modified QuEChERs method for extraction of Sudan dyes I-IV. The simultaneous analysis of the dyes were achieved on Shimadzu prominence UFLC 20AD coupled with SPD 20AX UV detector operated at dual wavelength of 500 and 480 nm. A total of twenty four (24) chilli pepper powder samples from eight different vendors on the Ghana market were analysed using the optimized method. Quantitation of analytes were done using the external standard calibration method with determination coefficient, R > 0.9999. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method were 0.02-0.04 mg/kg and 0.05-0.13 mg/kg respectively. A good recovery range between 85.3 - 121.2% were obtained for a spike level of 1.0 mg/kg in real samples. ANOVA analysis at 95% CL showed statistically no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the recoveries between samples and also between the individual compounds. The method experimented and proposed in this study is fast, easy, cheap, robust and ecologically safe, presenting an alternative method for routine analysis for increased rate of surveillance against the illicit use of Sudan dyes as food additives.
在食品工业中非法使用苏丹染料（一类有害且致癌的偶氮染料）的现象在世界各地区，尤其是非洲呈激增态势。它们作为食品添加剂使用对消费者构成了严重的健康风险，已被全球各食品监管机构禁止。为了加强监管，文献中提出了各种分析方法。本研究还试图试验并提出一种替代方法，用于快速、简便、廉价、可靠且生态安全地分析辣椒粉及类似基质中的苏丹染料。优化后的方法采用在改进的QuEChERs方法中使用6.0 mL丙酮：乙腈（1:5 v/v）混合溶剂来提取苏丹红I - IV。通过岛津超高效液相色谱仪UFLC 20AD与SPD 20AX紫外检测器联用，在500和480 nm的双波长下实现对这些染料的同时分析。使用优化后的方法对加纳市场上来自八个不同供应商的总共二十四（24）个辣椒粉样品进行了分析。采用外标校准法进行分析物定量，测定系数R > 0.9999。该方法的检测限（LOD）和定量限（LOQ）分别为0.02 - 0.04 mg/kg和0.05 - 0.13 mg/kg。对于实际样品中1.0 mg/kg的加标水平，回收率在85.3 - 121.2%之间。在95%置信水平下的方差分析表明，样品之间以及各化合物之间的回收率在统计学上无显著差异（p > 0.05）。本研究试验并提出的方法快速、简便、廉价、可靠且生态安全，为增加对非法使用苏丹染料作为食品添加剂的监测率提供了一种常规分析的替代方法。
