Profiling of different bioactive compounds in functional drinks by high-performance liquid chromatography

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Food Science and Technology

Background:

• Simultaneous analysis of diverse bioactive compounds in beverages is challenging.
• Existing methods often require extensive sample preparation and multiple runs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a single High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method for simultaneous quantification of water- and fat-soluble vitamins, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and chlorophylls.
• To demonstrate the method's applicability to various natural origin beverages without prior sample preparation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an ultradeactivated C18 column with gradient elution (trifluoroacetic acid, water, methanol).
• Employed HPLC for simultaneous detection and quantification.
• Validated method performance including linearity, resolution, and detection limits.
• Applied the method to analyze juices, soybean milk, and beers.
• Correlated HPLC-derived total phenolic content with Folin-Ciocalteu assay results.
• Assessed antioxidant activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and identified key contributing compounds via statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• Achieved baseline separation of all target compounds within 40 minutes with good resolution.
• Demonstrated good linearity and low detection limits for all analyzed compounds.
• Successfully applied the method to diverse beverages (juices, soybean milk, beers) without sample pretreatment.
• Showed good correlation between HPLC-determined total phenolics and Folin-Ciocalteu results.
• Identified key compounds contributing to antioxidant activity.

Conclusions:

• The developed HPLC method is efficient, rapid, and robust for simultaneous analysis of multiple bioactive compounds in various beverages.
• The method eliminates the need for sample preparation, simplifying beverage analysis.
• The findings contribute to a better understanding of beverage composition and their associated antioxidant properties.