SPE/HPLC/UV studies on acrylamide in deep-fried flour-based indigenous Chinese foods

A fast and cost-effective method using HPLC/UV has been developed for determination of acrylamide in deep-fried flour-based leaven dough foods available in Hong Kong. The samples were purified by a simple solid-phase extraction method which combined Oasis HLB and Bond Elut-Accucat cartridges. The aqueous sample solution was centrifuged at 14,500 ×g and 0 °C for 15 min to successfully remove the fat in the samples. A gradient elution program and a mobile phase of 4.0% v/v acetonitrile in water allowed sufficient retention and well resolved acrylamide from the food matrices in the sample extracts. Acrylamide was detected at UV wavelengths of 210 and 225 nm. The amounts of acrylamide in eight food samples were 27–198 μg/kg when 1-g samples were analyzed. The recoveries of acrylamide were larger than 78.0% and the precisions were 2.1–10.9% (n = 3). Our proposed method is especially relevant for analyzing acrylamide in those oily food matrices.