Determination of Level of Food Additives in Labisia pumila (LP) Beverages Consumed in Kuantan, Malaysia

Ade Chandra Iwansyah (Center for Appropriate Technology Development, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jl. K. S. Aipda Tubun No.5 Subang 41213, West Java)
Masithah Mohammad Yusoff (Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, University Malaysia Pahang, Jl. Lebuhraya Tun Razak, Gambang 26300, Pahang)
Faridah Kormin (Department of Research and Innovation, University Malaysia Pahang, Gambang, 26300, Pahang)

agriTECH
Vol 32, No 4 (2012)

The content levels of several food additives (gallic acid, benzoic acid and caffeine) in commercial Labisia pumila (LP) beverage samples in Kuantan, Malaysia were determined by high performances liquid chromatography (HPLC). These analytical measurements were undertaken primarily to assess the compliance of content levels of the investigated food additives and their daily intake doses with permissible levels. The results obtained from this study indicated that the average levels of GA, caffeine and benzoic acid in the analyzed beverages were 37.62-229.35 ppm, 43.46 -168.00 ppm and 98.10-241.13 ppm, respectively. In addition, the concentrations of these food additives have been converted into daily intake doses based on beverage consumption. It was estimated that the mean daily intake of GA, caffeine and benzoic acid  by the adult population of Kuantan through the consumption of the analyzed beverages  were 0.39 mg/kg body weight/day for GA, 0.59 mg/kg body weight/day for caffeine (19.6 % ADI) and 0.43 mg/kg body weight/day for benzoic acid (8.6%ADI). None of the analyzed beverage sample was found to violate the current legal limits as stipulated in Malaysian food regulation.