Philippine E-Journals

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CAFFEINE IN SELECTED COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ENERGY DRINKS BY HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Maricar T. Rellin | Edna T. Salva

 

Abstract:

This study was conducted to determine the caffeine concentrations of the five selected commercially available energy drinks and to assess if these certain brand of energy drinks conform to the allowable limit set by the FDA. All samples were purchased from different convenience stores in Davao city. All measurements were tested in triplicate per trial and calculated in parts per million (ppm) or mg/L. The peak area of caffeine in each sample was determined and compared with the peak area of the standard caffeine solutions and the concentrations of caffeine for each sample was calculated using the equation formed by the linear calibration curve of standard caffeine solutions. The caffeine concentrations in the five selected commercially available energy drinks significantly differed from each other. The order of energy drink samples according to increasing caffeine concentration was: Sample A>Sample B>Sample C > Sample D > Sample E. All the experimentally determined caffeine concentrations for the five selected commercially available energy drinks differed with their label claim caffeine concentrations. Moreover, the experimentally determined caffeine concentrations for samples A, B, and C conformed to the FDA allowable limit (≤500 ppm) per serving while the caffeine concentrations of samples D and E exceeded the FDA allowable limit.