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A rapid capillary gas chromatographic method for the determination of propionic acid and propionates in bread and
M J Scotter1, S A Thorpe, S L Reynolds
1Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Food Science Laboratory, Colney, Norwich, UK.
Abstract:
A rapid method for the determination of propionic acid and propionates in bread and bread products is reported. The method employs solvent extraction, filtration and quantification by capillary gas chromatography using an internal standard. The limit of determination was 10 mg kg-1 propionic acid. The mean recovery rates for spiked bread samples were 108% at approximately 1,000 mg kg-1 (range of 106-110%, coefficient of variation 1.1%), 97% at approximately 2,000 mg kg-1 (range 96-98%, coefficient of variation 0.7%) and 98% at approximately 3,000 mg kg-1 (range of 97-100% and coefficient of variation of 1.1%). The method offers improved sensitivity, precision, chromatographic resolution and a wider sample analyte concentration range over a previously reported packed-column gas chromatographic method and has been applied to the analysis of bread, rolls, pitta breads and hamburger buns.