Determine of tea components of instant milk teas in cup by high performance liquid chromatography, quality standard and drinking safety
Eight different brands of instant milk tea in cup were purchased from large supermarkets at Hefei city. With a modified pretreatment method, 8 instant milk tea samples were treated by ultrasonic-assisted extraction using absolute ethyl alcohol,and the amounts of catechins and caffeine in the samples were determined by a HPLC(high performance liquid chromatography) method referred to the national standard GB/T 8313-2008. The result showed that all of the eight samples met the amount requirements of tea polyphenols and caffeine in milk tea beverage by the national standard GB/T 21733-2008 for tea beverage. This HPLC method with a modified pretreatment approach provides a quantification way for instant milk teas in cup. Finally, the quality standards for instant milk teas and drinking safety were discussed.