By Adrian Coello, Charlea Kimbleton, and Emma Najdzionek

Faculty Mentor: Sarah Smith

Abstract

Energy drink consumption has grown dramatically on college campuses in the past few years. While the main ingredient in these drinks is caffeine; they also contain high amounts of B vitamins pyridoxine and riboflavin. The effects of the caffeine in these drinks has been studied extensively but the effects of the B vitamins have not. This is particularly
concerning as several types of energy drink exceed the daily recommended dose of pyridoxine and riboflavin (1.6 mg/day)(1). It is imperative that more research is done into the concentration of these vitamins as well as their possible harmful effects. To achieve this several different energy drinks from two different brands (Celsius and Monster) were obtained. Next, several standard solutions from stock pyridoxine and riboflavin were made to create a calibration curve. Then High Performance Liquid Chromatography was used to analyze the concentrations of pyridoxine and riboflavin in the various energy drink samples, the data was compared to the daily recommended dose and the values given on the labels for each drink(2). It is anticipated that the concentrations of pyridoxine and riboflavin will be higher than the daily recommended dose and that the amount of the vitamins will be the same as the amounts indicated on the energy drink label.

References:
1. Martí-Andrés, P.; Escuder-Gilabert, L.; Martín-Biosca, Y.; Sagrado, S.; Medina-Hernández, M.J. Simultaneous Determination of Pyridoxine and Riboflavin in Energy Drinks by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection. Journal of Chemical Education 2015 92 (5), 903-906. DOI: 10.1021/ed500544h

2. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Riboflavin. Dietary Reference Intakes: Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12,
Pantothenic Acid, National Academy Press, Biotin, and Choline. Washington D.C.; 1998, : 87– 122.