Validated method for the determination of propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese and bacterial cultures using phenylboronic esterification and GC-MS

•Simultaneous determination of propane-1,2-, butane-2,3-, and propane-1,3-diols.•Diol analysis in complex matrices such as cheese and bacterial cultures.•High sensitivity and selectivity using two-step extraction.•Precise quantification covering a broad concentration range (1-500 mg kg−1).

A simple, fast, sensitive, and robust gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the simultaneous determination of propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese and bacterial cultures was developed. Target analytes were extracted and transformed into their phenylboronic esters prior to analysis. The method showed good sensitivity, without carryover between the samples. The detection limits for propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese samples were 0.26, 0.02, and 0.11 mg kg−1, respectively, and for bacterial culture samples were 1.32, 0.09, and 0.54 mg kg−1, respectively. The Horwitz ratio showed good precision for all analytes (<0.45). The calibrated range in cheese for all analytes was very broad, from 0 to 1000 mg kg−1, and in bacterial cultures was from 0 to 5000 mg kg−1 with R2 > 0.9991. The results confirm excellent applicability of the proposed method for the determination of the target metabolites in cheese and bacterial culture samples.