st. Petersburg State University have developed a rapid test for the presence of preservatives E200 and E210 in carbonated drinks and juices. It takes five minutes to complete. This was reported to socialbites.ca in the press service of the university.
Benzoic (additive E210) and sorbic (additive E200) acids are widely used as preservatives, which can also be found naturally in sodas and juices, including those intended for children’s consumption. Moderate doses of these substances are not dangerous, but large quantities can cause allergic reactions. It is also known that the addition of E210 in excess of the permissible norm can lead to deterioration of cognitive functions, the development of acidosis, convulsions and hyperventilation of the lungs.
Young scientists from St Petersburg University have developed a new express method to identify these preservatives in beverages. To test the applicability of the method, chemists analyzed various baby food beverages and explained their choice by the fact that children are most sensitive to the effects of nutritional supplements.
“Our method involves the extraction of the preservatives E200 and E210 from beverages to a solution of natural terpenoid – menthol, followed by the determination of the analytes by high performance liquid chromatography with photometric detection. The developed method allows the content of preservatives to be determined selectively, sensitively and at a level below their maximum permissible concentration. , it should be noted that the target lies in the rapid identification of analytes: sample preparation and analysis takes no more than five minutes, ”says Irina Timofeeva, professor at the Institute of Chemistry of St. Petersburg State University. Russian Presidential Prize for Young Scientists.
The authors of the development added that most food products contain many different substances: carbohydrates, organic acids, proteins, vitamins, dietary fiber and dyes. This complicates chemical analysis and can degrade equipment performance.
st. “The method we developed is simple and allows us to solve this problem,” said Maria Kochetkova, a research laboratory assistant at the Institute of Chemistry at St. Petersburg State University.
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