Comparison of different commercial solid-phase extraction cartridges used to extract heterocyclic amines from a lyophilised meat extract

Heterocyclic amines are a group of potent mutagenic compounds which are generated when muscle meat is cooked. Since they are possible human carcinogens, these mutagens have received considerable attention in recent years, and several analytical techniques have been developed for their quantification. Although the purification step is one of the most important, there are a great number of variables influencing the recovery of the amines, especially when real samples are analysed. In this work we studied the influence of sample spiking mode on the recoveries. Furthermore, on the basis of a previously developed clean-up method, the effect of changing commercial source and structure of the sorbents used in two solid-phase extraction steps was examined. This purification method was applied to the quantification of the heterocyclic aromatic amines present in a lyophilised meat extract by means of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.