Métodos para determinação de açúcares em bebidas não alcoólicas adoçadas: revisão sistemática.

Abstract

Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations that promote excessive calorie consumption due to their attributes that compromise mechanisms signaling satiety. Sweetened non-alcoholic beverages are relevant ultra-processed foods in Brazil and worldwide, contributing significantly to sugar intake in the diet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the increase in non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) has been driven by behavioral risk factors, including unhealthy eating. Over the past five years, public health policies have been established to provide information and reduce sugar consumption, such as the sugar reduction agreement and new labeling legislation. In October 2020, there was a change in Brazilian legislation regarding food labeling, aiming to promote healthy and adequate nutrition, which made it mandatory to declare total sugars and added sugars, in addition to carbohydrates. Another change introduced by these regulations was the requirement of front-of-pack nutritional labeling for added sugars when they exceed 7.5 g per 100 ml of the liquid food. The regulations came into effect on October 9, 2022, with a 36-month deadline for compliance for non-alcoholic beverages. In light of the presented scenario, an opportunity was identified to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on physicochemical methods for the determination of sucrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, maltose, and total sugars in sweetened non-alcoholic beverages, aiming to obtain data that can assist in decision-making regarding analytical methods. Thus, applying the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 69 studies were selected, corresponding to 59 articles and 10 publications from official or standardizing bodies, resulting in 101 analytical methods. The included studies were published between 1925 and 2023. The majority of them were produced in Europe, 55.1% (n=38), written in English, 94.2% (n=65), had the objective of method application, 60.9% (n=42), and presented a quantitative approach, 99.0% (n=100). The most frequent matrices were juice, 55.4% (n=56), and soda, 36.6% (n=37). The sugars glucose, sucrose, and fructose were considered analytes in 69% of the methods. Although the majority of the identified methods (84.2%, n=85) were non-standardized/official, validation data were provided in only 38.6% (n=39) of these, and only 8.9% (n=9) presented results for minimum validation parameters, which is concerning in terms of analytical quality. The most used technique was HPLC, reported in 51.5% (n=52) of the described methods. To comply with the current Brazilian nutritional labeling legislation, 16 methods were found for the determination of total sugars, with techniques including GC (n=1), HPLC (n=4), capillary electrophoresis (n=1), spectrophotometry (n=3), FTIR spectroscopy (n=1), photometry (n=1), refractometry (n=1), and titration (n=3), and four methods for the determination of the main mono- and disaccharides found in food (sucrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, and maltose), with HPLC (n=3) and NMR (n=1) techniques. Other important findings were related to chromatographic analysis, such as sample preparation techniques, column type, and mobile phase. Given the analytical demands imposed by the current national and international scenario regarding sugar quantification in non-alcoholic beverages, it became evident that there is a gap both in terms of analytical strategies that meet the principles of green chemistry and the reliability of results. Thus, the results obtained from this study can be used to support research related to the development of new methods and changes in the current Brazilian legislation, including strategies for determining sugars in non-alcoholic beverages.