[One-step extraction method of phthalate esters in vegetable oils].

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Food Science
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Phthalate esters (PAEs) are common contaminants in food products.
• Accurate and rapid detection methods for PAEs in vegetable oils are crucial for food safety.
• Traditional methods for PAE analysis can be time-consuming and complex.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fast and efficient method for investigating phthalate esters (PAEs) in vegetable oils.
• To establish a gas-liquid micro-extraction (GLME) technique combined with GC-MS for PAE analysis.
• To validate the method's suitability for routine food safety monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A novel gas-liquid micro-extraction (GLME) technique was developed.
• The GLME method was coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for analysis.
• An internal standard method was employed to ensure analytical accuracy.
• The method was tested on various vegetable oils spiked with a mixed PAE standard.

Main Results:

• The integrated GLME process for extraction, clean-up, and concentration of PAEs was completed within 5 minutes.
• Recoveries ranged from 60.0% to 112.3%, and Relative Standard Deviations (RSDs) ranged from 0.9% to 28.4% for spiked vegetable oil samples.
• The GLME method demonstrated high accuracy, good repeatability, and a low matrix effect compared to traditional methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed GLME-GC-MS method is a simple, fast, and accurate technique for phthalate ester analysis in vegetable oils.
• This method is highly suitable for field detection of food products, contributing significantly to food safety surveillance.
• The study highlights the potential of GLME for enhancing food safety systems.