Mass Spectrometry of Food Preservatives

Abstract

Food preservatives are widely used by the food industry to extend the shelf life and to improve the appearance of a food product and retain its nutritional properties. They are classified into chemical and natural preservatives. Natural food preservatives refer to the use of plant extracts or the application of essential oils. Chemical food preservatives are synthetic compounds that have been regulated to be used as functional additives. There is a trend toward the identification and replacement of chemical food preservatives with natural bioactive compounds. However, some of these substances may pose a potential risk to human health, especially if they are consumed excessively and are regulated, giving great importance to their determination. Several matrix-dependent methods have been developed and applied to determine, quantify, and discriminate these compounds by employing different analytical techniques along with appropriate sample preparation protocols. Major techniques applied for their determination are chromatography with mass spectrometry (MS), while sample preparation procedures greatly depend on the food matrix. Hence, this chapter aims to present applied analytical methods that are combined with the application of MS features of interest, covering the advancements of existing methodologies applied and respective details over the last decade to determine chemical food preservatives.