Abstract
Spices have been used since ancient times. Although they have been employed mainly as flavoring and coloring agents, their role in food safety is of increasing concern. In this study, the usefulness of a modified QuEChERS method, based on the d-SPE, with micro-HPLC–MS/MS system for the determination of selected perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs) in spices was addressed. The commonly used spices in Spain and Slovakia were investigated. The studies showed the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid in 19 spices of Spanish and Slovak origin, and it ranged from 0.11 ng g−1 for garlic to 0.67 ng g−1 for peppermint. The perfluorobutanoic acid was quantified in 10 Slovak spices (from 1.13 ng g−1 for allspice to 37.82 ng g−1 for star anise), whereas perfluorobutane sulfonate was identified only in 12 Spanish spices and it ranged from 0.24 ng g−1 for cinnamon to 1.01 ng g−1 for coriander. In contrast, perfluoroheptanoic acid was identified only in Slovak cardamom (1.94 ng g−1) and coriander (0.74 ng g−1). The average consumption of spices in Europe is approximately 0.5 g day−1, while in Asia and northern Africa, it is many times higher. Average content of PFASs in this evaluation has a value 4.67 ng g−1 giving 2.33 ng day−1 per person. This study showed that daily used spices may contribute to the overall contamination of food by perfluoroalkyl substances.
Highlights
Spices are mostly plant origin substances added to food in order to improve their flavor, aroma and functionality
The better recovery ratios with relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 10 % for all analyzed perfluoroalkyl substances were obtained for the method 1 used ENV sorbent for extract clean-up
The RSD value higher than 10 % was noted for one Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)–perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)
Summary
Spices are mostly plant origin substances added to food in order to improve their flavor, aroma and functionality. They are used as food preservatives and folk medicines. A growing body of epidemiological and preclinical evidence points to culinary herbs and spices as minor dietary constituents with multiple anticancer characteristics [4, 5]. They can be classified according to several criteria, such as: due to the origin, active substance content, whether due to parts of plants, from which it is derived. Cultivation conditions and type of processing, spices may be a source of some contaminants such as pesticides [9, 10], heavy metals [11], illegal dyes [12, 13], mycotoxins [14, 15] and perfluoroalkyl substances
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