Strategies for food authentication using multidimensional chromatography combined with microextraction microtechniques

Abstract

In this project we intend to develop a methodology for the authentication of beverages and foods from the use of solid phase microextraction through headspace (HS-SPME) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC). The methodology will be developed for 180-day-old, non-aged amburana barrel sausages from the Salinas-MG region, and will aim to distinguish between these two types (aged and not aged) and, consequently, to identify whether there has been adulteration or not the sample. The criterion of adulteration used will be aging since most of the adulterations of distilled beverages are by the process of filling a bottle of a famous branded beverage with a beverage of value and of much lower quality than the brand shown on the bottle. As these low-value drinks are not aged (one of the causes of their low value), this is an extremely valid adulteration criterion. The target compounds for the differentiation of beverages will be the compounds from aging (compound derived from the wood of the skipjack in which the beverage is aged) and the compounds which degrade after aging. The methodology to be developed in the project will consist of: optimization of extraction parameters; optimization of chromatographic conditions and cryogenic modulation; analysis of the chromatograms and subsequent identification of possible adulterations. This methodology will initially be applied to distilled beverages derived from sugarcane, popularly known as cachaça, and may be extended to a multitude of samples of beverages and food in order to authenticate and identify adulterations in these samples.