Spectrophotometric determination of cyclamate in foods: NMKL collaborative study

A spectrophotometric method for the determination of cyclamate was collaboratively studied in 9 laboratories. Ethyl acetate is added to extract cyclamate from acidic aqueous solution into water, and the cyclamate is then quantitatively converted to N,N-dichlorocyclohexylamine by adding excess hypochlorite. N,N-Dichlorocyclohexylamine is determined by measuring its UV absorption at 314 nm. Six samples, 3 soft drinks with cyclamate levels of 0.36-0.47 g/kg and 3 jams with levels of 1.23-1.50 g/kg, were included in the study. Average recoveries of cyclamate were 99.7% in the soft drinks and 103.8% in the jams. Reproducibility coefficients of variation were 6.7% for the soft drinks and 4.4% for the jams.