Furan quantification in bread crust: development of a simple and sensitive method using headspace-trap GC-MS

ABSTRACT

To study reactivity in bread crust during the baking process in the pan, we followed furan mainly resulting from Maillard and caramelisation reactions in cereal products. Furan quantification is commonly performed with automatic HS-static GC-MS. However, we showed that the automatic HS-trap GC-MS method can improve the sensitivity of the furan quantification. Indeed, this method allowed the LOD to be decreased from 0.3 ng g^–1 with HS-static mode to 0.03 ng g^–1 with HS-trap mode under these conditions. After validation of this method for furan quantification in bread crust, a difference between the crust extracted from the bottom and from the sides of the bread was evident. The quantity of furan in the bottom crust was five times lower than in the side crust, revealing less reactivity on the bottom than on the sides of the bread during the baking process in the pan. Differences in water content may explain these variations in reactivity.

KEYWORDS:

• HS-trap GC-MS
• cereal products
• Maillard reaction
• caramelisation reaction
• thermal process
• baking process
• isotopic dilution
• contaminants

Acknowledgements

Jessica Malfaire is acknowledged for her technical assistance for furan quantification as well as Julien Cartailler for his technical assistance for the temperature measurements of pan.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France); SATIN-11-ALID-0004.