2.2.2. Thin layer chromatography (TLC)
TLC is the simplest, economic and the most appropriate chromatographic technique for qualitative analysis of mixtures of analytes because of the possibility of obtaining better results in relatively short span of time. A few TLC methods for the analysis of AFD were reported. have reviewed various sample preparation techniques and chromatographic conditions for the analysis of food dyes in different food matrices by TLC. Recently, de Andrade et al. investigated the analysis of synthetic food dyes in soft drinks using SPE technique and analytes were eluted by a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and ammonium hydroxide as the mobile phase.