Anion exchange polymeric sorbent coupled to high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV diode array detection for the determination of ten N‐nitrosamines in meat products: a validated approach

Abstract

Summary Among mechanisms and molecules presumably involved in the carcinogenicity induced by meat consumption, the N‐nitrosamines (N‐NAs) are a class of compounds characteristic of processed meats. In this work, an analytical method for the determination of ten N‐nitrosamines (N‐nitrosomorpholine, N‐nitrosomethylethylamine, N‐nitrosopyrrolidine, N‐nitrosodiethylamine, N‐nitrosopiperidine, N‐nitrosodipropylamine, N‐nitrosodimethylaniline, N‐nitrosodibutylamine, N‐nitrosodiphenylamine and N‐nitrosodibenzylamine) in fresh meats and meat products was developed, optimised and validated. The method is based on optimised sample purification by solid‐phase extraction (anion exchange polymeric sorbent) and separation/detection by high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to UV diode array detection. The validation procedure allowed to ascertaining good analytical performances in terms of sensitivity, selectivity towards interfering compounds, accuracy and robustness. The values obtained for precision (range: 4.3–14.4%) and recovery percentages (range: 80.8–95.1%) were compared to reference values indicated in the Decision No. 657/2002/EC, resulting as compliant. The measurement uncertainty (lower than 14.6%) was satisfactory for each N‐NA as well.

Determination of Nitrate and Nitrite in Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) and Wild Rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.) and Food Safety Evaluations

“…The most common nitrosating agents of food are nitrite salts and nitrogen oxides. Although the most representative type of food linked to this risk is processed meat [ 14 ], several authors also reported the presence of different N-nitrosamines in vegetables, such as pickled and fermented vegetables. More in-depth, these authors quantified levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine and N-nitrosopyrrolidine at concentrations up to 15 and 25.5 µg kg −1 , respectively [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Risk assessment of N‐nitrosamines in food

“…Regarding non‐volatile N‐ NAs, some analytical approaches have used high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV, fluorescence and mass spectrometry detection. All these techniques have also been applied for the simultaneous determination of volatile and non‐volatile N‐ NAs in food and other matrices (Komarova and Velikanov, 2001 ; Wang et al, 2006 ; Avasilcai et al, 2014 ; Li et al, 2018 ; Iammarino et al, 2020 ).…”

Development of a fully automated analytical platform based on static headspace‐gas chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of five N‐nitrosamines in dried aquatic products of animal origin

“…Quantitative analysis of NAs is usually performed on the chromatography coupled to high‐sensitive and selective detectors 7 . Liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with photo‐diode array, fluorescence, mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detectors has been employed for quantification 8‐9 . Moreover, gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a nitrogen phosphorus detector, a thermal energy analyzer, MS and tandem MS (MS/MS) are also employed as a detection method for determining NAs in foodstuffs 10‐11 .…”

“…7 Liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with photo-diode array, fluorescence, mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detectors has been employed for quantification. [8][9] Moreover, gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a nitrogen phosphorus detector, a thermal energy analyzer, MS and tandem MS (MS/MS) are also employed as a detection method for determining NAs in foodstuffs. [10][11] In addition, the abundance of the molecular mass ion could be significantly enhanced when the GC-MS/MS was equipped with chemical ionization and operated in positive mode.…”