A new HPIC-UV method to quantify phenolic acids in food and environmental samples

• Published in: International journal of environmental analytical chemistry Vol. 90; no. 8; pp. 633 - 643
• Main Authors: Mallipattu, Sreedhar, Sévenier, Ghislain, Dudal, Yves
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 15.07.2010; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Acids; Analytical chemistry; Chromatography; Environment; environmental samples; Environmental science; ion chromatography; phenolic acids; Signal to noise ratio; UV detection
• ISSN: 0306-7319; 1029-0397
• DOI: 10.1080/03067310903374145

A simple and rapid HPIC method has been developed for the separation and quantification of nine phenolic acids (PAs): gallic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid, sinapic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid and ellagic acid. Separation was carried out on an Dionex Ion-Pac AS-11 (250 mm × 4 mm I.D.) column with a Dionex Ion-Pac AG-11 (50 mm × 4 mm I.D) guard column. Elution was performed using 1000 mM sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 500 mM sodium acetate (NaOAc) in a multi step binary gradient at a flow rate of 1 mL min −1 . Detection was performed using diode array detector set at 230, 250, 280, and 330 nm. After optimisation of various parameters, the separation of the nine phenolic acids was achieved within 23 minutes with a good resolution. Peak areas for each compound showed good linearity (R2 > 0.999) in a relatively wide concentration range. Detection limits were in the range of 10-530 µg L −1 at a signal-to-noise ratio 3 : 1 and the amount of phenolic acids determined were in the range 0.20-10.0 ng when 20 µl of sample was injected. The developed procedure was successfully applied for the determination of these compounds in food (green tea, tomato juice and wine samples) and environmental samples (soil, surface water, organic fertiliser, organic waste) with minimal sample preparation. Beside good performances (separation, resolution, sensitivity and linearity), the new method is very fast and not expensive which makes it interesting for both scientific research and routine analysis of food and environmental samples.