Assessing the authenticity of the sport supplement creatine using spectroscopic techniques and multivariate analysis

Creatine is the most consumed supplement worldwide. Despite studies confirming its safety and effectiveness, adulteration with harmful substances can pose serious health risks to consumers. This study aimed to develop methods for assessing the purity of creatine supplements using spectroscopic techniques associated with chemometrics analysis. A total of 149 samples were collected and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mid-infrared (MIR), and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. HPLC analysis identified 117 pure samples and 32 adulterated samples. The models developed for predicting creatine concentration and classifying samples as pure or adulterated yielded significant results achieving an accuracy of over 95 % for MIR and NIR. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of HPLC, MIR, and NIR, in conjunction with multivariate analysis, for verifying the authenticity of creatine supplements and accurately predicting their concentration.