Determination of 9 sweeteners in spirits by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Objective To establish an analysis method for detecting 9 sweeteners including acesulfame, sodium saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, alitame, stevioside and steviobioside in spirits by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Methods After the sample was heated by boiling water bath to remove ethanol, it was detected by UPLC-MS/MS. The sweeteners were separated by UPLC with water (containing 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate) -methanol gradient elution in a HSS T3 chromatography column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm), and qualified/quantified by mass spectrometry with electron spray ionization multiple reaction monitoring mode. Results The linearity of the 9 sweeteners in the range was good, and the correlation coefficient was above 0.999. The recovery of the method was 85.2%-102.8%, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 3.8%-7.3%. The detection limit was 0.3-1.5 μg/kg. Conclusion The method is simple, rapid and reproducible, and can be used for the detection of 9 sweeteners in spirits.