Retrospective analysis for the identification of 4-aminocarminic acid photo-degradation products in beverages.

This article deals with the identification of the photo-degradation products of 4-aminocarminic acid potentially present in commercial beverages. Sixteen beverages of different composition but all containing the E120 dye were previously analysed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry to identify the common degradation products of the E120 dye. Since it is plausible to find unauthorised 4-aminocarminic acid in beverages which report generic E120 dye on the label, retrospective analysis was employed here not only to search for the possible presence of 4-aminocarminic acid but also to investigate the potential formation of photo-degradation products derived from this compound. For this purpose, a statistical approach based on Student’s t-test was used to compare the degraded beverages containing 4-aminocarminic acid with all the others. Five degradation products were identified and their structures were elucidated on the basis of the h...