Food and Beverage Quality Control and Compositional Testing

Importance of the Topic

Food and beverage testing is essential to ensure product safety, authenticity, nutritional accuracy and regulatory compliance. Modern consumers, regulators and manufacturers demand reliable compositional data for sweeteners, sugars, vitamins, organic acids and amino acids. High-throughput, robust analytical solutions help laboratories adapt to new formulations, reduce repeat analyses, and support sustainable manufacturing.

Objectives and Overview

This application notebook compiles advanced analytical methods developed by Waters scientists. It covers five key analyte classes: sugar substitutes, sugars, vitamins, organic acids and amino acids. Each section presents targeted workflows, from sample preparation to detection, illustrating how tailored chromatography and detection technologies can streamline routine quality control in the food and beverage industry.

Methodology and Used Instrumentation

Analytical platforms include Arc HPLC, ACQUITY UPLC H-Class and H-Class PLUS systems, ACQUITY Premier solutions, and ACQUITY UPC2 supercritical fluid chromatography. Detection is achieved by photodiode array (PDA), refractive index (RI), single quadrupole mass detection (QDa) and tandem MS/MS. Key columns employed are Atlantis BEH Z-HILIC, CORTECS T3, CSH Phenyl-Hexyl and XBridge BEH Amide. Automated liquid handling (Andrew+) and MaxPeak High Performance Surfaces technology enhance sample preparation and reduce surface-related analyte losses.

Main Results and Discussion

• Sugar Substitutes: A 12-minute isocratic Arc HPLC-PDA method quantifies soft drink additives without aspartame degradant interference. HILIC-RID analysis on Atlantis BEH Z-HILIC separates seven sugar alcohols plus allulose in sugar-free products.
• Sucralose: Coupling UPLC H-Class Plus with RID on a CORTECS T3 column yields simple, sensitive isocratic analysis in beverages.
• Sugars: MS-based HPLC with single ion recording separates mono- and disaccharides, resolves galactose/glucose co-elution and quantifies low-level lactose in dairy products down to 0.0025 g/100 g.
• Vitamins: Two-dimensional Arc LC-UV simultaneously analyzes fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E in 15 min; PTAD derivatization plus MS/MS differentiates vitamin D and pre-vitamin D; UPC2 on Trefoil columns discriminates natural vs synthetic α-tocopherol isomers.
• B-group Vitamins: ACQUITY Premier with MaxPeak HPS surfaces delivers 3–10× sensitivity gains for riboflavin, thiamine and others in energy drinks.
• Water-Soluble Vitamins and Caffeine: Arc HPLC-PDA on XSelect HSS T3 XP resolves ten vitamins plus caffeine in 16 min.
• Organic Acids: Mixed-mode BEH C18 AX column with UPLC-QDa quantifies 15 acids in <8 min. CSH Phenyl-Hexyl UPLC-QDa method measures 14 acids across fruit juices, wines and beverages in 11 min. A rapid UPLC-PDA assay determines citric acid in sports drinks.
• Amino Acids: AccQ•Tag derivatization with UPLC and QDa provides robust profiling in food, feed and cell culture samples. Methods are seamlessly adapted from ACQUITY UPLC to H-Class PLUS platforms while maintaining resolution and precision. Guard columns and Andrew+ automation further increase throughput and consistency.

Benefits and Practical Applications

These workflows reduce hazardous waste, minimize manual dilutions, and lower solvent costs. Selective detectors and derivatization strategies eliminate matrix interferences. Automated sample prep and surface-passivation technologies deliver superior sensitivity and reproducibility. Laboratories can achieve faster turnarounds, fewer reruns, and scalable methods for routine QC in industrial and contract testing environments.

Future Trends and Possibilities

Emerging advances include deeper integration of two-dimensional separations, high-performance surface chemistries, supercritical fluid chromatography expansions, nano- and microflow systems, and AI-driven data processing. Greater automation, cloud-based informatics and interlaboratory method harmonization will further improve efficiency and data integrity. Mobile and inline sensors may enable near real-time monitoring of compositional changes in production lines.

Conclusion

This comprehensive suite of analytical solutions demonstrates how modern chromatography and detection technologies, combined with automation and surface innovations, can meet the complexity of food and beverage compositional testing. By adopting these methods, laboratories can ensure product quality, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.

References

No external references provided in the source document.