Determination of p-cresol levels in smoked meat products using QuEChERS method and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

p-Cresol is known as an environmental chemical contaminant that has toxic effects on humans. However, the presence of p-cresol in smoked foods has been seen as a flavor constituent. The present study had as objective to optimize and validate the QuEChERS method for the determination of p-cresol in beef hamburger, which was chosen as a representative matrix for six smoked meat products. The analysis was performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method showed limit of quantification (LOQ) of 40 µg kg⁻¹, linearity between 40 and 200 µg kg⁻¹, recovery higher than 70% and relative standard deviation lower than 14%. The proposed method was applied to six different smoked foods and the p-cresol concentration ranged from 148 to 872 µg kg⁻¹ and only the turkey breast pate showed a concentration lower than the LOQ. The descending order of p-cresol level in smoked samples was: sausage > shredded tuna > salami > turkey breast > hamburger > turkey breast pate. In three analyzed samples, the results showed that the p-cresol migrates from the surface to the food inner. Finally, the proposed method was simple and efficient to quantify high levels of this contaminant in smoked foods and it could be a useful tool for the monitoring food safety and quality.

Keywords:

• 4-Methylphenol
• p-cresol
• smoke aroma
• smoked meat
• QuEChERS method

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

We thank the Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) for the financial support and the infrastructure provided. Partial financial support was received from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) [Grant number 308480/2019-8].