Micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis for rapid analysis of patulin in apple cider

A micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) mode was applied to a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method, which was developed for detecti on and quantitation of patulin in apple ciders. This method used a small sa mple amount (2 mL) and consumed minimal organic solvent compared to the mos t commonly used HPLC methods. The sample preparation procedure of the CE me thod was also simpler than other chromatographic techniques developed for p atulin analysis. Patulin was detected with a photodiode array detector at 2 73 nm. The standard curve was linear (r(2) = 0.9984) from 75 mug/L to 121 m ug/mL with patulin working solutions corresponding to 3.8 mug/L to 6.1 mug/ mL, patulin in the sample. The linearity was better in a narrower range of- concentrations (r(2) = 0.9999) from 75 mug/L to 24.1 mug/mL. The limit of d etection of the method was 3.8 mug/L. Patulin recoveries at 4 levels in spi ked samples (10-121 mug/L) ranged from 95.2 to 105.4%. The recoveries were 96.9% and 99.2% for 2 levels (22.3 and 223 mug/L, respectively) bf patulin in infected apple samples. This method represents a unique alternative meth od for rapid and sensitive analysis of patulin in apple ciders.