Dilute-and-Shoot Liquid Chromatography Approach for Simple and High-throughput Analysis of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in Fruit-based Baby Foods

Abstract

The present work focuses on a cost-effective and environment-friendly approach for the determination of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in baby foods, a process-induced food compound of toxicological interest. The proposed method includes acetonitrile-based extraction followed by dilution of the extract with water in order to minimize the interference from other co-extracted matrix components and eliminate the demand for further clean-up procedure, and then high-performance liquid chromatography analysis with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Adequate performance characteristics were achieved including limits of detection and quantification of 0.02 and 0.04 μg g−1, respectively; recoveries from 98 to 102% and precision (RSD values ≤ 4%) under repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility conditions. The application of the validated method to commercial fruit-based baby foods and the detection of HMF in all samples (contents between 2.3 and 195.4 μg g−1) demonstrated their suitability for baby food control as well as it contributed to the first data on HMF in fruit-based baby foods available in the Brazilian market.