Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of cold relief ingredients in chewing gum.

An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of the active compounds paracetamol, pseudoephedrine and chlorpheniramine in chewing gum samples has been developed and validated. The method required a simple liquid-liquid extraction using n-hexane and a mixture of water-acetonitrile prior to HPLC analysis. The chromatographic separation was achieved with an aqueous solution containing hexylamine (pH 3)-acetonitrile as the mobile phase, a Spherisorb C18 column and UV detection at 220 nm. As an application, the proposed method has been used to evaluate the release into saliva of these compounds from samples under a controlled human chewing process.