Ultra-violet spectrophotometric determination of caffeine in soft and energy drinks available in Yenagoa, Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the pH and levels of caffeine in eight brands of carbonated and energy drinks available in local market in Yenagoa, Nigeria. Quantitative analysis of caffeine was performed by a simple and fast standard UV spectrophotometric method, using carbon tetrachloride as the extracting solvent. Results showed that the pH of the beverages were slightly acidic ranging from 5.92-6.44. The minimum caffeine level was observed in the carbonated soft drink Coca Cola (43.71±0.55 ppm), while the energy drink, Red Bull sample showed the highest caffeine content (58.31±0.35 ppm). The carbonated soft drinks showed caffeine levels in the range of 43.71 and 45.83 ppm with average concentration of 44.52 ppm, whereas in the energy drinks it ranged from 47.56 to 58.31 ppm with a mean concentration of 52.24 ppm. The caffeine content in all the beverage samples analyzed in this study are well below the maximum allowable limits set by the US Food and Drugs Administration. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2014.