Taurine in Energy Drinks

1
Taurine in Energy Drinks

• Allison Blonski
• CHEM 4101 Modern Instrumental Methods of
  Analysis
• December 9, 2011

2
What is Taurine?

• Sulfonic acid, often considered a free amino
  acid1
• Obtained in diet through meat consumption
• Important for muscle functioning
• Interacts with caffeine, distressing cardiac
  output

• Exact Mass 125.01466 Da2

3
Energy Drinks and Taurine

• Taurine added to energy drinks to boost energy,
  concentration, memory, and physical performance
• Effective dosages of taurine range from 2,000 to
  6,000 mg1
• Potential health risks arise from interactions
  with other compounds, including caffeine
• Energy drinks containing both caffeine and
  taurine have been connected to athlete deaths in
  Europe1

4
Central Problem

• How much taurine is found in a serving of energy
  drinks?
• Does this amount of taurine provide any benefits?
• Does this amount of taurine cause any health
  issues?
• The taurine content in a typical energy is below
  the effective dosage required for any benefits,
  but high enough to interact with caffeine, making
  taurine-containing drinks more dangerous than
  those without taurine.

Hypothesis
5
Separation Techniques
Technique Advantages Disadvantages
Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Relatively low cost, commonly used technique, low sample volume, good separation Somewhat slow procedure
Capillary Isoelectric Focusing (cIEF) Sharp separation, relatively fast, low sample volume Compound cannot be derivatized, may be difficult to fully separate all compounds in matrix
Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE) Sharp separation, relatively fast, low sample volume Difficult to combine with optical detection methods
6
Detection Methods
Technique Advantages Disadvantages
Fluorescence Spectroscopy Excellent S/N ratio, high sensitivity Compound requires derivatization
Ultraviolet-Visible Absorption Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) Low cost, rapid procedure Relatively high limit of detection (LOD) and signal to noise ratio (S/N), compound requires derivatization
Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MS-TOF) 2 Good resolution, provides qualitative confirmation Expensive, weak sensitivity, relatively difficult to pair with some separation techniques
7
Procedure
8
Reverse Phase HPLC - Fluorescence

• Separation based on polarity of compounds
• Detection based on compound excitation and
  wavelength emission
• Compatible methods of separation and detection
• Relatively low cost
• Suitable selectivity and sensitivity for the
  matrix
• 
  
• 
  
  6

9
Instrumentation

• Bondclone µBondapak C18 column WAT0273247
• 300 mm x 3.9 mm
• Stationary phase C18 chain silica (10 µm
  diameter)
• Mobile phase 42472 (THF acetonitrile
  phosphate buffer), pH 9
• 1100 psi at 1 mL/min
• 
  
• 
  8

• Hitachi HTA HPLC Detector - L-2485 Fluorescence9
• S/N gt 900
• Excitation wavelength 200 -850 nm
• Emission wavelength 250 900 nm
• Band width 15 nm
• Accuracy within 3 nm
• Limit of detection (LOD) 0.015 ng/mL
• Limit of quantification (LOQ) 0.0625 ng/mL

10
Possible Results
9

• Calibration curve would be created via standard
  addition
• Standard taurine can be purchased through Abblis
  Scientific10
• Addition of standard taurine to energy drinks
  without taurine will serve as a positive control

11
Conclusions

• Reverse phase HPLC with detection using
  fluorescence will provide a suitable
  quantification of the taurine found in energy
  drinks.
• Further clinical research should be done to
  examine the effects of taurine, caffeine, and the
  combination of the two on the human body.

12
References

1. Clauson, K.A. Shields, K.M. McQueen, C.E.
   Persad, N. Safety issues associated with
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2. Chen, Z. Chen, B. Yao, S. High-performance
   liquid chromatography/electrospray
   ionization-massspectrometry for simultaneous
   determination of taurine and10 water-soluble
   vitamins in multivitamin tablets. A. Chem.
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   High-performance liquid chromatographic
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   Determination of Taurine in Energy Drinks by HPLC
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10. CAS Number 107-35-7 2-Aminoethanesulfonic acid.
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