Soda-borax buffer

To prepare the standard pH buffer solutions recommended by the National Bureau of Standards (U.S.), the indicated weights of the pure materials in Table 8.15 should be dissolved in water of specific conductivity not greater than 5 micromhos. The tartrate, phthalate, and phosphates can be dried for 2 h at 100°C before use. Potassium tetroxalate and calcium hydroxide need not be dried. Fresh-looking crystals of borax should be used. Before use, excess solid potassium hydrogen tartrate and calcium hydroxide must be removed. Buffer solutions pH 6 or above should be stored in plastic containers and should be protected from carbon doxide with soda-lime traps. The solutions should be replaced within 2 to 3 weeks, or sooner if formation of mold is noticed. A crystal of thymol may be added as a preservative. 

Numerous CE separations have been published for synthetic colours, sweeteners and preservatives (Frazier et al., 2000a Sadecka and Polonsky, 2000 Frazier et al., 2000b). A rapid CZE separation with diode array detection for six common synthetic food dyes in beverages, jellies and symps was described by Perez-Urquiza and Beltran (2000). Kuo et al. (1998) separated eight colours within 10 minutes using a pH 9.5 borax-NaOH buffer containing 5 mM /3-cyclodextrin. This latter method was suitable for separation of synthetic food colours in ice-cream bars and fmit soda drinks with very limited sample preparation. However the procedure was not validated for quantitative analysis. A review of natural colours and pigments analysis was made by Watanabe and Terabe (2000). Da Costa et al. (2000) reviewed the analysis of anthocyanin colours by CE and HPLC but concluded that the latter technique is more robust and applicable to complex sample types. Caramel type IV in soft drinks was identified and quantified by CE (Royle et al., 1998). 

Fig. 3.144. Electropherograms of synthetic food colourants in two different ice cream bars (a,b), grape soda (c) and mango soda (d). Separation solution, 0.025 M borax-NaOH buffer containing 5 mM /4cyclodextrin, pH 9.5 detection wavelength, 200 nm. Reprinted with permission from K.-L. Kuo et al. [187].

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