Determination of alkenylbenzenes and related flavour compounds in food samples by on-column preconcentration-capillary liquid chromatography

A new, simple and versatile method is presented for the determination of different concentration levels of alkenylbenzenes (eugenol, isoeugenol, eugenol methyl ether, myristicin, anethole and estragole) and the related flavour compounds (coumarin and pulegone) in food samples. The method involves the use of a stationary phase (capillary column) for the enrichment with appropriate elution. After the sample had completely passed through the capillary column the eluent was changed and the separation/detection was achieved. Excellent linearity was obtained under the proposed conditions for a direct determination method and a method including on-line preconcentration. The limits of detection were in the ranges 97–148 and 9.5–14.2 ng/mL, respectively. Evidence for a matrix effect was not found and recoveries between 92 and 110% were obtained. The precision of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation values, was below 5% in all cases. The applicability of this methodology was tested by analyzing synthetic and real food samples.