Abstract:

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of canthaxanthin, Sudan Red Ⅰ, Sudan Red Ⅱ, Sudan Red Ⅲ and Sudan Red Ⅳ in salted duck egg yolk has been developed. These canthaxanthin and Sudan Red dyes were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile, methanol, and chloroform (1∶0.5∶0.5, v/v). The extract was dried by a rotary evaporator. The residue was transferred to a graduated tube and diluted to 10 mL with acetonitrile. The canthaxanthin and Sudan Red dyes were separated on a XDB-C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm), with acetonitrile-water (95∶5, v/v) as mobile phase. They were then detected at 478 nm-520 nm-471 nm at different retention times by UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The recoveries of sudan Ⅰ, sudan Ⅱ, sudan Ⅲ, sudan Ⅳ, and canthaxanthin were 97.34%,89.56%,90.98%,93.63% and 95.15% respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 4.7%,4.3%,5.1%,4.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The method is simple, rapid and accurate.

Key words: canthaxanthin, Sudan Red , reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)