Gas chromatographic determination of cyanide in beans [butter bean, lima bean]

• Published in: Food Hygiene and Safety Science (Shokuhin Eiseigaku Zasshi) Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 530 - 533_1
• Main Authors: Chikamoto, T. (Kyoto-fu. Inst. of Hygienic and Environmental Science (Japan)), Maitani, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese; English
• Published: Japanese Society for Food Hygiene and Safety 1984
• Subjects: 2-butanone; acetone; beans; CHROMATOGRAPHIE EN PHASE GAZEUSE; CIANUROS; CROMATOGRAFIA DE GASES; cyanide; CYANIDES; CYANURE; DESTILACION; DISTILLATION; DISTILLING; ETUVAGE; GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY; gas chromatography (FID); GLICOSIDOS; GLYCOSIDE; GLYCOSIDES; hydrogen cyanide; PHASEOLUS LUNATUS; pyridine-pyrazolone method; STEAMING; VAPORIZACION
• ISSN: 0015-6426; 1882-1006
• DOI: 10.3358/shokueishi.25.530

A gas chromatographic method was developed for the determination of small amounts of cyanide in beans. A sample was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis of cyanogenic glycosides, and the liberated hydrogen cyanide was steam-distilled and collected in an alkaline solution. An aliquot of the alkaline distillate was evaporated nearly to dryness under reduced pressure in a flask, and the residue was dissolved in water and transferred into a test tube. This solution was acidified by adding 1M formic acid, and the resulting solution was directly subjected to gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector for the determination of hydrogen cyanide. A linear relationship was obtained between the peak area and the concentration of hydrogen cyanide in the range of 1-100μg/ml in the distillate. The coefficients of variation (5 determinations) were less than 4% for these solutions. The detection limit of cyanide in beans was 2μg/g as hydrogen cyanide. The contents of cyanide in beans determined by the present method agreed very closely with those obtained by the pyridine-pyrazolone spectrophotometric method.