Determination of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Heated Meat Samples Using an Efficient Microwave Assisted Extraction and Microextraction Method Followed by HPLC

Background and Objectives: Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are carcinogenic and mutagenic substances, which are formed during the heating process of proteinaceous foods such as meat and meat products. The extraction of these compounds from the complex matrix of meat products was carried out by microwave assisted pre-extraction and a precise, rapid and high sensitive microextraction method. After the extraction process, the amount of HAAs in the samples was measured using a reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled to a UV detector. Materials and Methods: Optimization of effective parameters on the microextraction process of HAAs was carried out using one factor at a time procedure, which included the type and volume of extraction solvent, the type and volume of dispersive solvent salt, and pH. In order to validation of the proposed method, the merit figures of microextraction method were calculated. The amount of HAAs in several meat products from supermarkets and restaurants in Tehran was determined by the mentioned method. Results: The optimum amount of effective parameters on the microextraction efficiency was obtained using central composite design (CCD). The merit figures of the proposed method included the limited detection (LOD) and the relative standard deviation (RSD) (5.8-8.1 ng/g) and (2.5-3.1), respectively. The efficiency of the proposed method in real samples was illustrated. Conclusion: The results proved that the proposed method had high ability to extract and measure the trace quantities of HAAs from the complex matrix of meat products.