Browsing by Author "Wijelath, W.A.G.E."

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    Estimation of Benzoic Acid in Commercially Available Fruit Juices and Nectars in Anuradhapura City Area
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Hettiarachchi, R.I.; Subhashinie, S.; Wijelath, W.A.G.E.
    Benzoic acid is a commonly used chemical preservative for processed foods in the form of benzoate. In the presence of sunlight, benzoate reacts with ascorbic acid and can produce benzene which is a known carcinogen. In most retail outlets in Sri Lanka, fruit beverages are stored exposing to sunlight. Considering the importance of this subject, this study was aimed to estimate the benzoic acid content in selected commercially available fruit juices and nectars stored exposed to sunlight and without exposure to sunlight. Through a pre-validated questionnaire, commonly available brands of fruit juices [Mixed Fruit Juice (MFJ) and Mango Juice (MJ)] and nectars [Mixed Fruit Nectar (MFN) and Mango Nectar (MN)] in Anuradhapura city were selected. The amount of benzoic acid was estimated according to the method described by Williams et al., (1998). Benzoic acid was detected in 3 brands of MFN and MN and 2 brands of MFJ and MJ, although it was not indicated on the labels. The maximum permitted level of benzoic acid in fruit nectars is 120mg/L and benzoic acid is not permitted to be used in fruit juices (SLS 1328: 2008). Mean benzoic acid concentration in MFN and MN without exposing to sunlight were 88.33±68.93mg/L and 72.56±50.06 mg/L while samples exposed to sunlight showed mean benzoic acid levels of 16.41±12.60 mg/L and 20.35±17.93 mg/L respectively. Mean level of benzoic acid in MFJ and MJ without exposed to sunlight were 44.95±1.64 mg/L and 36.04±5.07 mg/L while samples exposed to sunlight showed mean benzoic acid levels of 5.66±7.81 mg/L and 1.80±8.63 mg/L respectively. Therefore, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the reduction of benzoic acid in MFN, MN, MJ, and MFJ samples exposed to sunlight. It can be concluded that the effect of sunlight during storage has a relationship with the marked reduction of benzoic acid contents in fruit juices and nectars. Further studies needed to be conducted to identify the presence of benzene in fruit drink samples. Keywords: Benzoic acid, Fruit juices, Fruit nectar, Sunlight
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    Optimization of the Methanolic Extraction Procedure for Chemical Preservatives in Ready to Serve Jelly Drinks by Response Surface Methodology
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Wijelath, W.A.G.E.; Jayanath, N.Y.; Senevirathne, D.; Guruge, K.P.G.K.T.; Madhujith, W.M.T.
    Ready to serve (RTS) jelly drinks which are widely consumed by school children in Sri Lanka contain Benzoic acid and Sorbic acid as chemical preservatives. This research was aimed to optimize the methanolic extraction procedure for rapid analysis of these two preservatives in RTS jelly drinks using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Response Surface Methodology (RSM) adopting Box Behnken design was used to determine the effects of 03 independent variables namely, ammonium acetate/acetic acid: methanol ratio (v/v), ultrasonic extraction time and ultrasonication temperature on recovery percentages of benzoic and sorbic acids. Independent variables were used at 03 levels with a center point. A negative matrix having similar chemical and physical properties to jelly drinks, spiked with 100 ppm of each benzoic and sorbic acids was used. These matrices were extracted using the 15 experimental conditions suggested by the Box Behnken design. Regression analysis was carried out for fitting the response surface model for all the responses and all linear and quadratic terms of the independent variables. The predicted optimum extraction conditions for ammonium acetate/acetic acid: methanol ratio, ultrasonic extraction time and temperature were 60:40 (v/v), 15 min. and 30 oC, respectively, at desirability level of 0.95. The benzoic acid and sorbic acid recovery percentages at optimum extraction conditions were 98.36±0.90% and 97.82±0.90% respectively. It showed no significant difference (p>0.05) to the predicted values of 97.86 and 96.43 for benzoic and sorbic recovery percentages, respectively.