Determination of sodium benzoate in different brands of orange juices available in Bangladesh by high-performance liquid chromatography

Sodium benzoates as a chemical preservative are common practice in modern food technology. It is permitted by international laws in food as a food additive with a restricted amount. But it is highly used in different food products like fruit juices. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted to determine the concentration of sodium benzoate in different brands of orange juices available in the market Tangail region, Bangladesh using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Chromatographic analysis was performed by a column (250 × 4.6 mm) with an isocratic solvent system at 40°C. The mobile phase consisted of sodium acetate and acetic acid buffer (pH was 4). The correlation of coefficient was 0.9999 from the standards curves and the variety of external standard absorptions was 0.93 to 20.05 µg/mL. Analysis of four brands of orange juice samples showed that the concentration of sodium benzoate was within the FDA standard, but two brand samples slightly exceeded the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) standard. Brand 1 and Brand 4 samples contained sodium benzoate 14.61 and 9.59 mg/100 mL respectively which were within the level BSTI standard range whereas Brand 2 and Brand 3 samples contained 16.11 and 16.33 mg/100 mL respectively which exceeded the level of BSTI standard.