Determination of Tartrazine, Lutein, Capsanthin, Canthaxanthin and β-Carotene in Animal-Derived Foods and Feeds by HPLC Method

Pigments are still widely used in food and feed industry and their resides in food might be harmful to human health due to their side effects. A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for simultaneous determination of pigments including tartrazine, lutein, capsanthin, canthaxanthin and β-carotene in animal-derived foods (including the muscle and liver of swine, the muscle, liver and skin of chicken and duck, and the muscle of fish) and feeds (swine, chicken and duck) was developed. Lutein, capsanthin, canthaxanthin and β-carotene were extracted with acetonitrile-ethyl acetate by ultrasonication, and tartrazine was extracted with water, followed by defatting with n-hexane and clean-up by solid phase extraction on weak anion exchange cartridges. The quantitation of the five pigments was performed by HPLC with ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer detection. Chromatographic separations were performed on a C8 column with gradient elution. The mean recoveries of analytes ranged from 80.4 to 92.5%. The intra- and the inter-day variabilities were below 15.0%. This HPLC method was suitable for the routine determination of pigment residues in animal-derived foods and feeds.