Rapid determination of 10 volatile N-nitrosamines in sour meats by modified QuEChERS and gas chromatography- triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Abstract

A rapid gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method with modified QuEChERS method was developed for the determination of 10 volatile N-nitrosamines in sour meats. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile and eliminated the fat with n-hexane. The extracts in acetonitrile layer were purified by octadecyl silane (C18) and primary secondary amine (PSA) sorbents. The N-nitrosamines were determined on a DB-WAX column (30 m×0.25 mm×0.25 μm) by GC-MS/MS in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The external standard method was used to quantify the N-nitrosamines. The correlation coefficients (r) of the standard calibration curves were greater than 0.99 in the range of 1-100 μg/L. The average recoveries ranged from 79.8% to 115.3% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) from 0.6% to 22.9% (n=6). The limits of detection (LODs, S/N=3) and limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N=10) were 0.04-0.3 μg/kg and 0.1-1 μg/kg, respectively. The developed method is simple, rapid, sensitive and efficient for the screening of the N-nitrosamines in sour meats.