An efficient method for the determination of furan derivatives in apple cider and wine by solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography—Diode array detector

A reliable SPE-HPLC/DAD method was developed for the simultaneous separation and quantitation of 10 furan derivatives in apple cider and wine matrices, including 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (5-HMFD), 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone (4-HDMF), 2-furoic acid (2-FA), 2-furaldehyde (2-F), 3-furaldehyde (3-F), 2-acetylfuran (2-AF), 5-methyl-2-furaldehyde (5-MFD), methyl 2-furoate (MFT), 2-propionylfuran (2-PF) and ethyl 2-furoate (EFT). All the compounds were satisfactorily separated on a C18 column in less than 30 min. The solid phase extraction parameters have been optimized, including the sorbent, sample volume, washing and elution solvent. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) (intra- and inter-day) of all analytes were less than 6.4% for apple cider at 5 mg/L spiking level and less than 3.9% (except 2-FA) for wine at 0.5 mg/L spiking level. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ) were low (LOD 0.002–0.093 mg/L, LOQ 0.01–0.31 mg/L) compared to the usual concentrations of these compounds in these food matrices. The absolute recoveries of all compounds were higher than 77.8% (most of them were 80.5–103%) at different spiking levels (apple cider 0.5–50 mg/L). The results showed that the developed method was precise, sensitive, robust and of good selectivity.

► An efficient SPE-HPLC method for the analysis of furan derivatives in food matrices. ► Method showed high recovery, reproducibility and excellent sensitivity. ► Method is satisfactory for routine analysis.