Rapid and Simple Extraction Method for Volatile N-Nitrosamines in Meat Products

Abstract

A new methodology for extraction, pre-concentration and analysis of volatile nitrosamines in meat-derived products was developed and compared with conventional methods (Distillation and two-step solid-phase extraction). The samples (canned sausages, cured meat, luncheon and smoked meat) were treated with an aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) by autoclaving at 121˚C for 10 min and extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane, then the nitrosamines were pre-concentrated using activated silica. Then, gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector was used for the separation and determination of the different nitrosamines contained in a real sample and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection was used as the confirmation technique. The newly invented autoclaving method allowed the determination of nitrosamine compounds at trace levels with limit of detection ranged from 0.077 to 0.18 ppb and quantitation limits were from 0.26 to 0.6 ppb for all nitrosamines, and found to be superior to the conventional ones, yielding approximately about 10%-20% increasing in the recovery compared with the mean recovery obtained when applying conventional methods.

Determination of Seven Volatile N-Nitrosamines in Fast Food

“…Conditions for autoclave treatment were adopted as our previous study (Kaseem, Assaf and Karabeet, 2013) [32], half milliliter of the N-nitrosamine Mix standard containing 50 μg/L of each nitrosamine was diluted with 10 mL of 1 N aqueous sodium hydroxide and 10 mg of ascorbic acid (Inhibitor of endogenous nitrosation) in 20 mL Pyrex tubes tightly capped and autoclaved at 121˚C for 10 min. After being allowed to stand at room temperature, the autoclaved solution was transferred to 50 mL separatory funnel.…”

“…The purpose of the present study was to measure the content of seven volatile N-nitrosamines in meat products (fast food) in Syria by using the method of sample preparation preformed in our previous work [32], and gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) for the separation and determination of nitrosamines in samples which are collected from fast food restaurants in Damascus and Damascus countryside.…”

A Rapid, Validated RP-HPLC Method for the Determination of Seven Volatile N-Nitrosamines in Meat

“…Extraction of N-nitrosamines was performed using the same method as our previous work [18] with a modification at the end. Approximately 6 grams of meat sample was placed in the Pyrex tube into which 10 mL of sodium hydroxide 1N was poured.…”

“…The aim of this work was the development of a RP-HPLC with direct UV-detection method for the determination of traces of seven volatile n-nitrosamines simultaneously from meat samples after previous autoclaving treatment [18]. The developed method was validated according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines to show the capability of the method [33].…”

“…There are a great number of scientific papers reported in the literature on the presence of volatile nitrosamines in food matrices. In general, these methods recommend the extraction of nitrosamines from the food matrix by extraction methods, including distillation (steam, vacuum, or atmospheric) [13]- [15], solvent extraction [1], solid-phase extraction [16], solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) [17], autoclave extraction [18], and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) [19]. Most of the methods comprise two or more clean-up steps, depending on the nitrosamine, the food matrix, and the detection device, and recommend that nitrosamine formation during sample preparation should be inhibited by adding sulfamic acid, ascorbate, or other nitrosation inhibitors [20].…”