Planta Med 2010; 76 - P216
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264514

Quantitative determination of undeclared theobromine and theophylline in energy drinks by reversed-phase HPLC

A Uzunovic 1, A Sapcanin 2, A Elezovic 1, S Hadzidedic 1, S Pilipovic 1, E Vranic 2
  • 1Agency for Medical Products and Medical Devices of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Control Laboratory, street Titova 9, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina
  • 2Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo, Cekalusa 90, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina

Caffeine, theophylline and theobromine are the most important naturally occurring methylxanthines. Although there is great similarity between theophylline and caffeine in their pharmacological and toxicological properties, it appears that theophylline has stronger toxic effects than caffeine and is certainly more toxic than theobromine [1]. This work has been aimed to assess theobromine and theophylline content in 13 different energy drink samples commercially available from the local market. Also, the purpose of this work was to adapt and use the HPLC method proposed by Sharma et al. for the determination of theobromine and theophylline in energy drinks [2]. HPLC was performed with a gradient mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and 0.1% ortho-phosphoric acid (w/v) in water, and peaks were detected at 210nm. Degassed and diluted samples were analysed on Lichrospher 100 RP18e column (250 X 4.0mm, 5µm), at 300C and 1.0 mLmin–1 flow rate. The theobromine and theophylline content in energy drinks varies according to the type of the brand and goes up to 74.99 and 1.85µg/mL, respectively. The used HPLC method is simple, sensitive and accurate and can be applied to all kinds of energy drinks for fast routine analysis of undeclared theobromine and theophylline content.

References: 1. Babu K. M., Church R. J., Lewander W. (2008) Clin. Pediatr. Emerg. Med. 9: 35–42.

2. Sharma V. et al. (2005) Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 18(6):583–594.