Simultaneous Extraction and Determination of Preservatives and Antioxidants in Juice Samples by an Optimized...

>Background: Food additives are widely used in industries. Overall, these additives have a beneficial role, but if their concentration exceeds certain limits, they may have an adverse effect on human health. Objective: This study outlines the determination of benzoic acid (BA), sorbic acid (SA), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in juices using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and HPLC-diode-array detection. Methods: Different parameters that significantly affect the extraction efficiency were optimized. The disperser and extraction solvents were acetone and chloroform, respectively. The other parameters were selected and optimized using two-level (2^k) factorial and central composite designs, respectively. A full method validation using an accuracy profile for the total measurement error was carried out. Results: The optimized conditions were 625 μL acetone, 350 μL chloroform, 0.85 g NaCl, and pH 2. The validated method demonstrated good linearity with R² ≥ 0.99 and good precision with the RSD of repeatability and intermediate precision at 1.97-10.7% and 2.31-11.9%, respectively. The relative recoveries were 96.2-105.4%, and the LODs were around 0.03 μg/mL for all compounds. The analysis of 41 samples revealed that BA and SA were quantified in 25 and 20 samples, respectively. BHA and BHT were not detected. Conclusions: The proposed methodology is an appropriate tool to determine important food additives in juices to ensure their compliance with the food additives legislation. Highlights: The work has demonstrated that the method can be successfully used in the simultaneous determination of four food additives in fruit juices.