Determination of heterocyclic aromatic amines in meat extracts by liquid chromatography-ion-trap atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry

When protein-rich foods are processed under normal cooking conditions, hete rocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) can be generated at a few parts per billion level. In this work, we have analyzed the HAAs present in a lyophilized me at extract by means of a simplified solid-phase extraction procedure. All t he analytes were collected in a single extract with recoveries in the range of 45.6-75.2%, so the analysis time has been greatly reduced. Problems der ived from the less exhaustive purification of the extract have been solved by using MS (ion trap) detection. The RSD for quantification ranged from 2. 1% to 5.1% for run-to-run precision and from 5.2% to 11% for day-to-day pre cision. The limits of detection for standard solutions ranged from 20 to 15 0 pg injected. For the meat extract analyzed limits of detection from 0.9 t o 11.2 ng g(-1) were obtained. Results of the quantification are in agreeme nt with those obtained using different clean-up procedures. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.