COMPARISON BETWEEN HPLC-ESI-QQQ-MS/MS AND SPME-GC-MS TECHNIQUE FOR ACRYLAMIDE DETERMINATION IN POTATOES CHIPS

Introduction: In April 2002, researchers at Swedish National Food Administration and Stockholm University published data about acrylamide content in fried and baked starch-based food [1,2]. Acrylamide formation in food is attributed to the Maillard browning reaction; because of the interaction between amino group of asparagine free amino acid and carbonyl group of reducing sugar [3]. Methods: Acrylamide in two different potatoes varieties, after frying, was determined by HPLC and GC coupled with MS. In the first case a HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS was used, SPE extraction and chromatographic conditions were according to Calbiani et al [4]; using acrylamide-d3 as internal standard. The method used for SPME-GC-MS was according to Ghiasvand & Hajipour [5] using a calibration curve for quantification. Results: Fragmentation of acrylamide and acrylamide d3 involves in NH3 release, leading to a product ion at m/z 55 and 58 [4]. Regarding HPLC, positive electrospray proved to be the most sensitive mode for acrylamide determination [6]. Acrylamide identified in the samples was quantified using a calibration curve based on response ration of acrylamide/acrylamide d3. Considering GC, the quantification was made using a calibration curve, in the linear range 2-500 mg mL-1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.997. The two different analytical techniques allowed to determine different values for the same potato variety, due to the different sensitivity of the two instruments, but only with HPLC-MS were obtained results according to literature [4,7]. In both cases the two different potatoes varieties have shown the same content difference, about 30%, probably due to the different asparagine content. Conclusions: Both liquid and gas chromatography are able to determine acrylamide in food. This study confirmed HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS as the most suitable chromatographic technique to determine acrylamide in potatoes sample, according to literature. At the same time, also SPME-GC-MS is able to determine acrylamide in food, but without the same sensitivity as the previous technique. Novel Aspect: SPME-GC-MS technique was tested for acrylamide determination and quantification to find an alternative to the well -established HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS method.