Environmentally Evaluated New HPLC/UV Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Acesulfame-K, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, and Aspartame and Its Degradant in Chewing Gum

Abstract

Background: Acesulfame-K (ACE), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and aspartame (ASP) are a common combination of food additives added to chewing gums. The abuse of these additives results in severe adverse health effects; however, they are still extensively used owing to their high performance and low cost. Objective: The development and optimization of a simple, cheap, sensitive, and eco-friendly HPLC/UV method for the simultaneous determination of ASP, ACE, and BHT along with aspartame degradation product phenylalanine (PHEN) in chewing gum. Methods: The method was optimized using a 5 μm C18 column and an eluent consisting of methanol and 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 5.0) according to a suitable gradient elution program. Simple sample preparation, consisting of dilution, homogenization, and sonication followed by centrifugation and filtration, was optimized and used for the extraction of chewing gum. The greenness of the method was evaluated. Results: The proposed method exhibited excellent linearity (R2 > 0.9996), low LOQ (0.08–0.95 μg/mL), and recoveries between 85.3 and 98.83% with relative SD (RSD) ≤ 2.7%. High resolution was obtained with <25 min run times with excellent precision (RSD: 0.28–1.33%). This method was successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of ACE, ASP, and BHT in commercial chewing gum; PHEN was not detected. Furthermore, our method is considered to be environmentally acceptable. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the developed method can be used to detect ACE, BHT, ASP, and PHEN in chewing gum. Highlights: A new sensitive, green HPLC/UV method is developed to be used as a minimal-cost routine analysis procedure for commercial chewing gum.

Evaluation the effectiveness of Andrographis paniculata aqueous extract on hepatotoxicity and CD44 gene expression in male rabbits treated with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)

“…Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is a white crystalline substance (EFSA, 2012) with the chemical formula C15H24O, molecular weight 220.36g/mol, melting point of 70 degrees Celsius, trade symbol E 321, and it is a lipophilic compound (Husøy et al, 2019), BHT is one of the most common antioxidants used in many applications to this day (Higgins et al, 2019), small amounts of preservatives are added for the purpose of improving the quality of taste and prolonging the shelf life of food during its production and to protect food from spoilage or rancidity (Pandey & Kumar, 2021;Zamzam et al, 2019). Butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) is an important compound and one of the food additives that is commonly utilized in food industry.…”

The wasted chewing gum bacteriome

“…Sucrose, dextrose and glucose syrup are the most frequently used in sugar-containing gums. However, most of chewing gums present in the European market are sweetened with polyols (sugar alcohols) such as xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol and isomalt 10 , 11 as well as artificial sweeteners such as aspartame 12 , all of which being labelled as sugar-free chewing gums. The effect of the sugar-free chewing gums in the control of dental disease, salivary pH, and the oral microbiome has been reported 10 , 13 – 15 .…”