Quantitative analysis of 2-furfural and 5-methylfurfural in different Italian vinegars by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry using isotope dilution

A new method was developed for the determination of 2-furfural (2-F) and 5-methylfurfural (5-MF), two products of Maillard reaction in vinegar, with head-space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). A divinylbenzene (DVB)/carboxen (CAR)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fibre was used and SPME conditions were optimised, studying ionic strength effect, temperature effect and adsorption time. Both analytes were determined by calibration established on 2-furfural-d4 (2-F-d4). The method showed good linearity in the range studied (from 16 to 0.12 mg/l), with a regression coefficient r2 of 0.9999. Inter-batch precision and accuracy were found between 14.9 and 6.0% and between −11.7 and 0.2%, respectively. Detection limit was 15 μg/l. The method is simple and accurate and it has been applied to a series of balsamic and non-balsamic vinegars.