Toxicity of dicarbonyl compounds, such as glyoxal, methyl glyoxal, and diacetyl, is receiving much attention among both food scientists and consumers. Analysis of these compounds in lipid-rich foods, such as cooking oils, is difficult because they are highly reactive. Moreover, their trace analysis is extremely hard due to their high solubility both in water and organic solvents. In the present study, these dicarbonyl compounds were derivatized with phenylene diamine into corresponding quinoxalines, which are stable and water insoluble, using a newly developed simultaneous purging and solvent extraction apparatus. Subsequently, these three dicarbonyl compounds were analyzed as quinoxalines with a gas chromatograph equipped with a DB-WAX column and a nitrogen-phosphorous detector. When various cooking oils and butter were heated at different temperatures, ppb-ppm levels of these compounds were recovered from the headspace. The results suggest that trace levels of these toxic dicarbonyl compounds are inhaled during cooking that involves lipid-rich foods.

Quantatative analysis of toxic dicarbonyl compounds formed in edible oils and butter upon heat treatment

244th National Meeting (2012)

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