Abstract: A high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of the artificial sweetener acesulfame K in food was developed. Ultrasonic-assisted aqueous extraction followed by the removal of protein impurities by adding zinc acetate and potassium ferrocyanide was used for sample preparation. Acesulfame K was separated on a C18 column using methanol-0.02 mol/L ammonium acetate (5.5:94.5, V/V) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min and detected using a diode array detector (DAD) at 230 nm. The column temperature was set at 30 ℃ and the injection volume 5μL. The retention time of acesulfame K was about 4.6 min. The detection limit of the developed method was 1.7 mg/kg, and the linear range was between 1.0 and 50.0μg/mL. The mean spike recoveries for acesulfame K in a blank juice sample exceeded 90%, with a relative standard deviation below 2% (n=6). In this method, acesulfame K was extracted using water as solvent with the assistance of ultrasound, and purified by precipitation. The method proved to be simple, rapid, accurate and practical.

Key words: acesulfame K, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), determination