pulegone and beta-thujone

A straightforward GC-MS method was developed to determine the occurrence of fourteen flavouring compounds in food. It was successfully validated for four generic types of food (liquids, semi-solids, dry solids and fatty solids) in terms of limit of quantification, linearity, selectivity, matrix effects, recovery (53-120%) and repeatability (3-22%). The method was applied to a survey of 61 Dutch food products. The survey was designed to cover all the food commodities for which the EU Regulation 1334/2008 set maximum permitted levels. All samples were compliant with EU legislation. However, the levels of coumarin (0.6-63 mg/kg) may result in an exposure that, in case of children, would exceed the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.1mg/kg bw/day. In addition to coumarin, estragole, methyl-eugenol, (R)-(+)-pulegone and thujone were EU-regulated substances detected in thirty-one of the products. The non-EU regulated alkenylbenzenes, trans-anethole and myristicin, were commonly present in beverages and in herbs-containing products.

Topics: Allylbenzene Derivatives; Anisoles; Benzyl Compounds; Beverages; Bicyclic Monoterpenes; Coumarins; Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; Dioxolanes; Eugenol; Flavoring Agents; Food Analysis; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Limit of Detection; Monoterpenes; Pyrogallol; Quality Control; Reproducibility of Results

Interest in the quantitative analysis of flavouring agents in alcoholic beverages arises from the possible toxicological consequences deriving from their use. The method reported here, based on gas chromatography with selected-ion monitoring mass spectrometry (SIM), allows the simultaneous measurement of alpha, beta-thujone, pulegone, safrole, coumarin and beta-asarone at the ppb level in alcoholic beverages.

Topics: Alcoholic Beverages; Allylbenzene Derivatives; Anisoles; Bicyclic Monoterpenes; Coumarins; Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; Dioxoles; Flavoring Agents; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Menthol; Monoterpenes; Safrole; Terpenes