Anserine and carnosine determination in meat samples by pure micellar liquid chromatography

Anserine and carnosine, which are both imidazole dipeptides, are natural antioxidants that are present in some types of meat. A pure micellar liquid chromatographic procedure was developed using a micellar mobile phase of 0.10 M sodium dodecyl sulphate buffered at pH 7, an amino column and UV detection. Three types of stationary phases (C18, phenyl and amino columns) were examined and the procedure was used to determine the two compounds in meat samples. They were completely resolved without any interference from the protein band. Total analysis time was 12 min. The limits of detection (ng/mL) were 71 and 53 for anserine and carnosine, respectively. Calibration curves were constructed on three different days (r>0.998). Repeatability and intermediate precision were evaluated at three different concentrations in meat matrices, the residual standard deviations being below 2.1%. Meat samples of poultry, pork and beef were injected directly into the chromatographic system after extraction in a sodium dodecyl sulphate solution and filtration. The possibility of direct injection using micellar liquid chromatography reduces the cost and time of analyses, and decreases error sources owing to minimised risks of losses and chemical changes in the analytes. Moreover, the selection of a pure mobile phase of sodium dodecyl sulphate allows this procedure to offer a number of advantages, such as non-toxicity, non-flammability, biodegradability and low cost, in comparison with aqueous-organic solvents. Its simplicity, then, makes it a good candidate for application in routine analysis in the area of food control and quality.