Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils and barbecued food by HPLC/UV–Vis detection

Determination of nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in corn, sunflower, olive oils and barbecued meat and fish by HPLC/UV–Vis method is described. The extraction procedure included a saponification, liquid–liquid extraction and finally purification of PAHs through a house-made silica–alumina column. Chromatographic determination was based on separation of PAHs on ODS column and measurement at 254 nm. All polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were separated and analyzed in 12 min on reversed phase ODS column with acetonitrile/water mobile phase at 1.5 mL min−1 flow rate. The detection limits of nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ranged from 0.26 to 1.15 μg L−1 at a signal/noise ratio of 3. The linearity of the method was between 0.9951 and 0.9996. Oil samples contain different PAHs ranging from 0.44 to 98.92 μg L−1. Barbecuing process increased the concentration (in the range of 2- to 8-fold) and caused the formation of PAHs in food samples.