Comparation of validation results of HPLC-UV/PDA and LC-MS/MS methods for the determination of sorbates and benzoates in food

Danka Spirić; Čaba Silađi; Srđan Stefanović

doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.16

Danka Spirić Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6008-7625
Čaba Silađi Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1933-3849
Srđan Stefanović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8011-5654

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.16

Keywords: Sorbic acid, Benzoate, HPLC, LC-MS/MS

Abstract

Sorbates are GRAS (Generally recognized as safe) additives, while benzoates are more of concern and can be converted to benzene through decarboxylation. Preservatives like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate may contribute to intestinal dysbiosis and inflammatory bowel diseases by altering gut microbiota. Animal studies show teratogenic and neurotoxic effects on zebrafish embryos and chromosome aberrations in human lymphocytes The health benefits of sorbates and benzoates have been explored in scientific literature, particularly in the context of their therapeutic potential beyond their antimicrobial properties. Sodium benzoate, a metabolite of cinnamon, upregulates neurotrophic factors, suggesting potential benefits in treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The clinical administration of sodium benzoate is well-established for treating urea cycle disorders, where it helps manage hyperammonaemia by facilitating ammonia excretion. The aim of this study was comparing suitability of two methods, HPLC-UV/PDA and LC-MS/MS. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is the most widely used method due to its high sensitivity, specificity and ability to separate and quantify sorbates (e.g., sorbic acid) and benzoates (e.g., benzoic acid) simultaneously. For trace-level detection, complex matrices, or multi-residue methods, LC-MS/MS is superior due to its unmatched sensitivity and selectivity, albeit at higher cost and complexity. Comparison, using paired sample t-test, using T-distribution (two-tailed), of the sorbate content of 36 foodstuffs analysed by the two methods, showed a non-significant small difference between the results of HPLC (mean = 358 mg/kg, SD = 378.5) and results of LC/MS-MS (mean = 335.6 mg/kg, SD = 336.6), t (35) = 1.9, p = 0.071.