Validated method for the determination of propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese and bacterial cultures using phenylboronic esterification and GC-MS

Abstract

A simple, fast, sensitive, and robust gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the simultaneous determination of propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese and bacterial cultures was developed. Target analytes were extracted and transformed into their phenylboronic esters prior to analysis. The method showed good sensitivity, without carryover between the samples. The detection limits for propane-1,2-diol, butane-2,3-diol, and propane-1,3-diol in cheese samples were 0.26, 0.02, and 0.11mgkg^-1, respectively, and for bacterial culture samples were 1.32, 0.09, and 0.54mgkg^-1, respectively. The Horwitz ratio showed good precision for all analytes (<0.45). The calibrated range in cheese for all analytes was very broad, from 0 to 1000mgkg^-1, and in bacterial cultures was from 0 to 5000mgkg^-1 with R²>0.9991. The results confirm excellent applicability of the proposed method for the determination of the target metabolites in cheese and bacterial culture samples.

Keywords: Bacterial cultures; Butane-2,3-diol; Cheese; GC–MS; Propane-1,2-diol; Propane-1,3-diol.