Abstract
A method based on liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated for the analysis of acrylamide in baby foods. The sample preparation involves a simple extraction process using a mixture of acetonitrile:water:formic acid (69:30:1, v/v/v) in combination with dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) using alumina as sorbent. The method shown good linearity within the range 20–250 μg kg−1 through matrix-matched and solvent calibrations. The recovery rates for acrylamide ranged from 100 to 108% with coefficients of variation below 10%, under repeatability and reproducibility conditions (within-laboratory). The obtained limit of quantification (20 μg kg−1) complies with the values indicated by the European Union for acrylamide analysis in baby foods. The developed and validated method was applied to 50 ready-to-eat baby foods available in the Brazilian market. Acrylamide was detected in 13% of samples primarily composed of fruits, whereas it was found in approximately 37% of baby food containing meat and/or vegetables. Additionally, in 2 samples, the detected levels exceeded the benchmark value established by the EU (40 μg kg−1). The study showcases the applicability of this method for routine analysis of acrylamide detection.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for financial support (Process n° 2017/11635-8) and for the scholarship awarded to RP (Process n° 2019/04727-9 and n° 2020/01974-2).
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This work is supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP (2019/04727-9 and 2020/01974-2).
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Rafaela Prata: Conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, writing (original draft), writing (review and editing). Marta Vargas Pérez: Methodology, investigation, writing—review and editing. Mateus Henrique Petrarca: Conceptualization, writing—review and editing. Helena Teixeira Godoy: Conceptualization, resources, funding acquisition. Antonia Garrido Frenich: Project administration, supervision, resources, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. Roberto Romero-González: Conceptualization, methodology, data curation, supervision, writing—review and editing.
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Rafaela Prata declares no conflict of interest. Marta Vargas Pérez declares no conflict of interest. Mateus Henrique Petrarca declares no conflict of interest. Helena Teixeira Godoy declares no conflict of interest. Antonia Garrido Frenich declares no conflict of interest. Roberto Romero-González declares no conflict of interest.
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Prata, R., Vargas Pérez, M., Petrarca, M.H. et al. Determination of Acrylamide in Commercial Baby Foods by LC-QqQ-MS/MS: a Simple Method for Routine Analyses. Food Anal. Methods 16, 1413–1421 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-023-02510-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-023-02510-8