Analysis of azaarenes in pan fried meat and its gravy by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A method for analysis of six azaarenes (benzo[h]quinoline, benzo[a]acridine, benzo[c]acridine, dibenzo[a,c]acridine, dibenzo[a,j]acridine and dibenzo[a,h]acridine) in thermally treated high-protein food has been described. The clean-up procedure used based on alkaline hydrolysis, tandem solid phase extraction on columns filled with Extrelut – diatomaceous earth and cation exchanger (propyl sulfonic acid), enabled a selective isolation of carcinogenic compounds belonging to benzoacridines and dibenzoacridines from samples of cooked meat and its gravy. The isolated fractions of aza-PAHs were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The detection limits for the azaarenes were between 0.0001 ng and 0.005 ng loaded on column. The recoveries for the four-ring and five-ring azaarenes were from 55% to 67%. Two types of dishes prepared from pork by pan-frying were investigated. Total contents of the benzoacridines and dibenzoacridines determined in cooked meat were 1.57 and 2.50 ng/g in collar and chop samples, respectively; their gravies contained 0.34 and 0.59 ng of these azaarenes per g of cooked meat.