Sensitive isotope dilution liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method for the...

Isotope dilution liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was applied to the quantification of acrylamide in chocolate matrixes (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with nuts, chocolate with almonds, and chocolate with wheat best element). The method included defatting with petroleum ether, extracting with aqueous solution of 2 mol l(-1) sodium chloride and clean-up by solid-phase (SPE) with OASIS HLB 6 cm3 cartridges. Acrylamide was detected with an Atlantis dC18 5 microm 210 x 1.5 mm column using 10% methanol/0.1% formic acid in water as the mobile phase. The analytical method was in-house validated and good results were obtained with respect to repeatability (RSD < 3.5%) and recovery (86-93%), which fulfilled the requirements defined by European Union legislation. The acrylamide levels in chocolate were 23-537 microg kg(-1). Therefore, the method was successfully used for the quantitative analysis of acrlyamide in various chocolate products.