Improved HPLC methodology for food control – furfurals and patulin as markers of quality

This work describes an improved, simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of furfuraldeydes (2-furfural (2-F), 5-methylfurfural (5-MF) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF)) and patulin in food products. The compounds were simultaneously determined by reversed-phase HPLC using a C18 column and photodiode array (DAD) detection. The method, simple and accurate, showed recoveries of furfuraldeydes from 6% to 100% and the recovery of patulin is about 90%. The method was applied to different commercial food matrices: honey, white and demerara table sugars, white and red balsamic vinegars, caramel, nutritional supplement, sugar substitute, apple juices (clear and cloudy) and also to a mould infected apple. The one-step, sensitive (the limits of detection (LODs) for patulin, 5-HMF, 5-MF and 2-F were 0.09, 0.06, 0.23 and 0.73 ppb, respectively), no time consuming methodology will contribute to characterize and quantify the presence of these compounds in human diet and to determine the quality of foods.