SFE-plus-C18 lipid cleanup and selective extraction method for GC/MS quantitation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoked meat

In biological matrixes lipid material often poses an interference problem for determinations of nonpolar compounds, e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A newly developed supercritical fluid extraction plus adsorbent method, "SFE-plus-C-18", offers selective extraction of PAHs in lipid-rich biological matrixes without the need for supplementary cleanup. This method eliminates the use of large volumes of toxic solvent and lengthy lipid removal procedures. This study reports the first application of the SFE-plus-C-18 method to the analysis of a genuine food product, i.e., smoked meat (beef). The procedure employs the addition of C-18 adsorbent beads to the initial sample slurry of pureed smoked meat prior to supercritical CO2 extraction and GC/MS quantitation. During SF extraction, indigenous lipids are preferentially retained on the beads, and PAHs are selectively extracted with supercritical CO2, In a comparison of determinations of PAHs by SFE-plus-C-18 vs the conventional SFE method, only 11-17% of the indigenous lipids observed by the conventional SFE method were co-extracted using the SFE-plus-C-18 method. The PAHs in smoked meat could thus be determined efficiently in the presence of a reduced background of co-extracted lipids. Out of 10 targeted PAHs, seven were detected with a range of 10.0-26.0 ng/g in the smoked meat sample. The other three PAHs were not present above the detection limit of the instrument (2.5-4.1 pg). The recoveries of PAHs obtained using the conventional SFE method were 63-94% lower than those achieved by SFE-plus-C-18.