Methods for Determination of Triacetin in Gummy Candy (Jelly Candy) by TLC, IR, and GC

The analytical methods were developed for the simple and rapid determination of triacetin in gummy candy by TLC, IR, and GC. The extraction method from gummy candy is as follows. The gummy candy was dissolved in warm water. The water solution was extracted with chloroform after cooling. The chloroform layer was washed with 10% NaHCO3 to remove dehydroacetic acid (one of interferences). Then the interferences of natural oil soluble pigments, preservatives, and others were successfully removed by use of a silica gel column. The eluted triacetin fraction could be analyzed qualitatively by use of TLC with silica gel plate and IR with KBr disk. Moreover, this fraction did not contain interferences on the quantitative analysis by GC. The analytical recovery of triacetin from gummy candy by this GC method was 99.4%. The detection limit was 10 ppm. Triacetin was detected from two samples out of 20 gummy candies on the market.