Evaluation of different clean-up procedures for the analysis of heterocyclic aromatic amines in a lyophilized meat extract

Along with other mutagenic and carcinogenic contaminants in foods such as a flatoxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic aromatic amine s (HAAs) have received considerable attention in recent years. A major draw back in the analysis of HAAs in foods is their very low level of concentrat ion (0.1-50 ng g(-1)) as well as matrix interferences. Solid-phase extracti on (SPE), forming an integral part of chromatographic analysis, is one of t he procedures currently used for the extraction and purification of HAAs in food samples. In this paper a comparative study of several SPE procedures for HAAs determination was performed. Recoveries of the heterocyclic amines in the analysis of both a simple matrix such as a standard methanolic solu tion and a contaminated meat extract were established. HAAs were determined by HPLC analysis with photodiode-array detection (DAD) of the purified ext racts, and the adequacy of different clean-up procedures for the analysis o f a contaminated meat extract was discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.