Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXVII, Issue 1
Written by Mioara NEGOIȚĂ, Adriana Laura MIHAI, Alina Cristina ADASCĂLULUI
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a class of organic pollutants with potential risk to human health and can contaminate the oilseeds crops during the growth period and/or during the drying/roasting processes. In order to determine the 4 PAHs regulated (Commission Regulation (EU) No 835/2011) in sunflower seeds by GC-MS/MS, two preparation techniques were evaluated: QuEChERS extraction with modifications and saponification with liquid-liquid extraction. Different factors were studied to isolate PAHs: type of solvent/salt, quantity of reagents/solvents, stirring mode, etc. Acetonitrile extracts were purified by freeze-combined with d-SPE QuEChERS. The comparison of the preparation techniques was evaluated in terms of recovery (50-120%) and co-extract residue values (≤ 2 mg/mL). QuEChERS extraction was selected as the optimal variant, obtaining the lowest co-extract residue values (≤ 0.5 mg/mL) and recoveries between 94.62-102.41%. This methodology was also verified on other samples: sunflower seeds with different fat content, sunflower seed core, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, rapeseeds, sesame etc. No PAHs were detected in the analysed samples.
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