Metrohm has developed a method for determining the phosphoric-acid concentration and its precursors in soft drinks, syrups and concentrates.
A typical soft drink will have a mixture of water, sugar, caramel for colour, phosphoric acid (which gives the tartness), caffeine (a mild stimulant) and natural flavourings.
The Metrohm Compact Ion Chromatography System is optimally adapted to the requirements of this analysis.
It requires only small amounts of environmentally friendly chemicals and eliminates the need for time-consuming sample preparation.
The system is optimised for the analysis in that a specific eluent and column package are used.
The certified MPak eluent ensures the quality and consistency of results, while the Metrohm MSM11 Suppressor gives linear calibration through the range of interest, leaving the Metrosep column to provide phosphoric-acid concentrations in a rapid chromatographic run.
The MCal standards assure trouble-free calibration.
The final part of the system is the ICNet 2.3 software with IC Cap, which facilitates operation and data export.
This new soft-drink method for phosphoric-acid determination virtually eliminates sample preparation for the non-carbonated samples, while the carbonated samples require only degassing prior to injection.
If the user has a large throughput of test samples, Metrohm recommends automating the system using a sample processor, which can process more than 100 samples.
