ABSTRACT
The analytical utility of HPLC for identification and determination of caffeine, theophylline and theobromine in 20 samples of tea, coffee and cola- like beverages was described. The objective was to develop a simple accurate method for the simultaneous determination of xanthines. The caffeine content in tea samples was ranging from 18.6 +/- 0.3 to 27.9 +/- 0.8 mg/mg theophylline 0.2 +/- 0.005 to 1.3 +/- 0.05 mg/gm and theobromine 2.5 +/- 0.1 to 4.6 +/- 0.15 mg/gm. In case of coffee, only caffeine is present 5.2 +/- 0.1 to 19.8 +/- 0.2 mg/gm. In case of cacao, the three xanthines are present, but theobromine is the higher content from 4.3 +/- 0.1 to 16 +/- 0.3 mg/gm. In case of soft drinks, caffeine is only present from 15.75 +/- 0.35 to 25.74 +/- 0.52 mg/can