Blue dye content study

Colorants are widely used additives, particularly in the food industry.
Like any compound, they are subject to standards and limit levels so that the consumer does not exceed the maximum daily quantity set.
It is for this purpose that a beverage manufacturer contacted our laboratory in order to quantify the coloring content of one of its products and to ensure compliance with French legislation.
Our team was therefore tasked with identifying and assaying the dye E133 , also known under the name of Acid Blue 9 [3844-45-9].


We therefore carried out a UPLC / UV analysis, the principle being to inject the sample into the LC inducing the separation of all the semi-volatile organic molecules by the chromatographic column. These molecules once separated will be detected by the UV detector and the area of the chromatographic peaks of each compound will be proportional to the content in the sample.

We doubled this analysis by performing in parallel a UV/Vis analysis based on ultraviolet / visible absorption. The sample is placed in a tank which is then analyzed directly in UV at the most suitable wavelength.
The dye content is then determined by means of a calibration line made with samples of known concentrations as a function of the area of the peaks.
uplc uv



On the attached image we can see an isolated peak at about 629nm, corresponding to our dye E133 .
Thanks to the calibration line we were able to determine the dye content in the sample: 5.83 µg / mL.
According to French legislation, the rate of E133 must not exceed 100mg / L , here we are at a concentration of 0.00583 g / mL, the customer is therefore well below the threshold which confirms the conformity of his product.

Do you want to calculate the coloring content whether in a food product or other?
Contact the POLYMEX laboratory!
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