Abstract:

A method for the determination of four trace sweeteners (acesulfame-K, saccharin sodiuma, sodium cyclamate,
and aspartame) has been established using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
(UPLC-MS-MS). Four sweeteners in distilled spirit samples were separated on UPLC after ultrasonic degassing.
Electrospray ionization (ESI) was applied for MS analysis in the negative ion mode and quantification was performed
in the multiple-reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) through external calibration. Four sweeteners were completely separated
within 1.2 min with good linearity (r ＞ 0.996). The limits of detection (LOD) for aspartame, sodium cyclamate,
saccharin sodiuma and acesulfame-K were 0.5, 1.5, 1.0 μg/L and 0.6 μg/L, respectively. Their recovery rates were
92.5%–98.7%, 92.3%–96.1%, 93.1%–97.3% and 94.5%–99.4% with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.0%–1.9%,
1.4%–1.9%, 1.1%–1.8% and 0.9%–1.2%. This method proved to be rapid, simple, accurate and suitable for the screening
and detection of trace sweeteners in distilled spirit.

Key words: ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS), distilled spirit, sweetener, trace