Determination of Caffeine Content in Commercial Energy Beverages Available in Saudi Arabian Market by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Analysis

Abstract

The popularity of energy beverages among young adult population is high. These drinks are claimed to boost energy and performance and contain high concentration of caffeine as one of the several ingredients. Discrepancies have been encountered by some of the previous studies between the actual quantity of caffeine present in the product and the amount mentioned on the label, making the determination of caffeine content in these drinks very important. Thus, in this study, we analyzed the caffeine concentration in most popular energy drinks available in Saudi Arabia. The energy drink samples (n = 9) were procured from retail outlets. Sample solutions were prepared in methanol and analyzed for caffeine content by GC-MS. Chromatographic parameters were optimized to achieve optimum resolution and various validation parameters were evaluated. The method was successfully applied for the quantification of caffeine in energy drinks by directly injecting the multifold diluted samples in methanol. The method was linear (r2 = 0.999) over a concentration range of 5–25 µg/mL, specific, precise (%RSD of peak area = 0.56–0.78), and accurate (%recovery = 99.3–101.2%). The amounts of caffeine determined were found in the range of 20.82–33.72 mg/100 mL (52.05–84.3 mg/pack). Results revealed that the amount of caffeine actually present in the tested drinks varied within ±10% range from the amount specified on the product labels. The amounts of caffeine detected in tested beverages were within the USFDA safe upper limit of per-day caffeine consumption, which has indicated that the consumption of one serving of energy drink is unlikely to produce any adverse health effect.

Assessment of the caffeine-containing beverages available in the local markets, and development of a real energy drink based on the date fruit

“…Due to those potential effects of caffeine-containing drinks, it is important to ascertain their exact caffeine content (Al-Bratty et al, 2020). Most company-produced drinks provide details on the content of caffeine, but the issue occurs with the alkaloid content of tea and coffee (Sanchez, 2017).…”

“…Energy drinks contain a quantity of substances including guarana (contains caffeine, teobromine, and teofiline), taurine (an amino acid), ginseng extract, glucuronolactone (a glucose metabolite), yohimbine, ephedra, Ginkgo biloba, and sugars (Higgins et al, 2015). Regular energy drinks consumption have been correlated with several medical problems including seizures, anxiety, hallucinations, arrhythmias and other cardiovascular complications which prompted review of the safety of these beverages (Al-Bratty et al, 2020).…”

Energy Drink Consumption among Adolescents Attending Schools in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo

“…This concentration range is low compared to the current study. Studies conducted in Saudi Arabia [35] and in Egypt [36] found the amount of caffeine in some energy drinks to be higher than that indicated on the label. In contrast, in our study, as in a study in Spain [37], the measured concentrations of caffeine (7.6 to 29.4 mg/100 mL) were below the ones mentioned on the label in all tested EDs.…”

Quick and simultaneous determination of caffeine and taurine in beverages using UPLC-ESI-MS

“…Ricciutelli et al provided an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for analyzing taurine in energy drinks without derivatization [16]. Al-Bratty et al determined caffeine in commercial energy beverages by using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [17].…”