Abstract:

A new method was established for the determination of 6 synthetic sweeteners (sodium saccharin, cyclamate,
acesulfame-K, aspartame, neotame, and sucralose) in food samples by using liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time
of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS). The extract was measured directly by LC-Q-TOF-MS with electrospray
ionization in the negative mode. The compounds were separated by an Eclispe XDB-C18 column with acetonitril-10 mmol/L
ammonium formate-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase. A detailed fragmentation study for these 6 synthentic sweeteners
was carried out by time-of-flight. The 6 compounds behaved linearly in the concentration range of 0.02–2.0 mg/L, with a
correlation coefficient > 0.998. The recoveries were 74.5%–120.1%, with relative standard deviation below 10.4%. The
method illustrated is suitable for routine qualitative and quantitative analyses of synthetic sweeteners in food samples.

Key words: liquid chromatography quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry, artificial sweeteners, screening, food