Simple determination of a strongly aromatic compound, sotolon, by capillary electrophoresis.

A strongly aromatic compound, sotolon, was assessed by capillary zone electrophoresis within 9 min without specific pre-sample treatment. The calibration curve comprised a straight line with good linearity (R = 0.997) over a relatively wide range of 3.13 to 100 ppm. The precision of this system was excellent with relative standard deviations of 1.39% for migration time and 2.96 % for peak response over 10 repetitions at a concentration of 12.5 ppm. The limit of quantitation and limit of detection values were 3.13 ppm (S/N = 9) and 0.781 ppm (S/N = 3), respectively. Using this system, sotolon was clearly detected from a maple-flavored food additive.