second-order calibration for quantification of food colorants in complex samples: anuniversal calibration approach

The utilization of colorants in food products is imperative to achieve visually appealing and naturalshades that appeal to consumers. however, due to cost and stability considerations, naturalcolorants are frequently substituted with synthetic alternatives, which may present potential healthrisks. a variety of analytical methods have been proposed for the detection of food colorants [1,2], with separation techniques being the most commonly employed. nevertheless, theestablishment of a universal calibration for accurate quantification across diverse real and complexsamples remains a challenging endeavor. in order to address this issue, contemporary analyticalinstruments, when combined with multi-way multivariate calibration methodologies, offereffective solutions for quantification problems, particularly in the presence of unknowninterferents. second-order calibration methods demonstrate promise in developing universalcalibration models for determining colorants in food products.this study introduces a higher-order multivariate chemometric approach to construct a universalcalibration for quantifying sunset yellow (sy) as a model compound in various food products,even in the presence of non-calibrated interferences. by utilizing second-order phspectrophotometric data obtained through hyper-spectral imaging, the mcr-als second-ordercalibration strategy achieves efficient quantitation of sy in different food products, providing apractical and effective approach for food analysis and quality control. the data pertaining to thestandard samples and the real sample containing sy at 16 different ph were simultaneouslymeasured using a hyperspectral imaging (hsi). this design enhances the analysis speed byleveraging the capabilities of the hsi device and creates a second order data to achieve theadvantage of analyzing samples with non- calibrated components. the proposed methodsuccessfully analyzed real samples of colored drinks, jelly, and candy. the proposed method isapplicable for the quantitation of all colorants that exhibit sensitivity to ph and function as weakacids or bases.