Page 252 - Analytical method for food addtives

13

E334–7, E354: L-tartaric acid and its salts

13.1 Introduction

The major food groups contributing to dietary intake of L-tartaric acid and its salts
are fresh pasta, various fruit and vegetable preparations, beer and grape juice. The
acceptable daily intake (ADI) for L-tartaric acid is 30 mg/kg body weight.

13.2 Methods of analysis
There are several methods published for the determination of L-tartaric acids
in foodstuffs. Methods that have been developed more recently include the
1–3
4–6
HPLC and capillary electrophoresis methods as well as the traditional methods
7–9
of titration. A summary of these methods is given in Table 13.1, together with the
matrices for which the methods are applicable. If statistical parameters for these
methods were available these have been summarised in Table 13.2. Some of these
methods are AOAC Official Methods of Analysis and one has been accepted as
7–9
a European Standard. 1
1
The European Standard specifies a method for the determination of tartaric
acid in grape juices by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The
content of tartaric acid in grape juices is determined by HPLC (using UV
detection). The separation takes place on an ion-exclusion column. A summary of
the procedure for this method is given in the Appendix and the performance
characteristics are given in Table 13.3.