High-performance liquid chromatography using diode array detector and fluorescence detector for hydrogen peroxide...

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a food additive for bleaching and sterilization, owing to its strong oxidizing effect. The current study aimed to develop analytical methods to detect trace amounts of residual H₂O₂ in diverse foods using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with diode array detector (DAD) or fluorescence detector (FLD). The vanadium(V)-peroxo complex, derived from the reaction of H₂O₂ with ammonium metavanadate, was used for the detection of H₂O₂ with DAD. H₂O₂ was indirectly analyzed using FLD via the detection of 7-hydroxycoumarin, derived by Fenton reaction, followed by verification using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Both the detection methods showed good linearity with R² > 0.997. Limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.30 and 0.91 mg/L (8.82 and 26.76 μM) with HPLC-DAD and 0.001 and 0.003 mg/L (0.03 and 0.09 μM) with HPLC-FLD, respectively. Applicability of both the methods was successively tested through sample analysis.