A simple and rapid chromatographic method to determine unauthorized basic colorants (rhodamine B, auramine O, and pararosaniline) in processed foods

A simple and rapid high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to determine basic colorants such as pararosaniline (PA), auramine O (AO), and rhodamine B (RB) in various processed foods was developed. Linearity of the calibration curves ranged from 0.05 to 50 μg/mL for PA and 0.05–100 μg/mL for AO and RB. The detection and quantification limits (LOD and LOQ) of the basic colorants, which were evaluated as signal-to-noise ratios of 3 for LOD and 10 for LOQ, ranged from 0.0125 to 0.05 and 0.025 to 0.125 μg/g, respectively. The recoveries and relative standard deviations of three basic colorants in six processed foods, namely, chili sauce, curry paste, gochujang (hot pepper paste), tandoori chicken (roasted chicken prepared with yogurt and spices), powder soup, and shrimp powder ranged from 70.2% to 102.8% and 0.8% to 8.0%, respectively. The intraday precision of the recovery test ranged from 1.7% to 4.5%, whereas the interday precision ranged from 3.7% to 7.7%. The reported method has been successfully applied to basic colorant determination in various processed foods such as fat-based food matrices (curry paste and tandoori chicken), chili products (gochujang and chili sauce), and protein-based products (shrimp powder and powder soup). Thin layer chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry methods for the determination of basic colorants in processed foods were also developed for rapid analysis and identification, respectively. These methods are very useful for monitoring unauthorized basic colorants in inspection centers or quarantine laboratories in many countries.