Simultaneous Determination of 23 Azo Dyes in Paprika by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

The present work describes the development and validation of a simple, quick and precise gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the analysis of 23 azo dye breakdown products in paprika samples. After the extraction procedure, dyes were identified on an Agilent J&W DB-5ms Ultra Inert capillary column using dichloroethane as a sample dissolvent. Limits of detection (LODs) were comprised between 10.6 and 84.4 ng/mL. Accuracy values in the range of 90–104 % for the 23 azo dye breakdown products were obtained, and RSD% for the analysis of 2.4 μg/mL of each compound was below 4.6 % (n = 9). The recovery for the azo dyes in paprika samples was comprised between 71.2 ± 3.5 % (benzidine) and 118.9 ± 2.5 % (para-cresidine). Results of this study suggest that the developed method is suitable for detection and quantification of azo dye breakdown products in the range of 60–240 μg/kg paprika. In addition, this GC-MS method allowed the simultaneous determination of disperse orange 3 (azo dye) with high accuracy and precision. The method has numerous advantages such as simplicity, low cost, easy operation and short analysis time and constitutes an efficient method for the monitoring of a large number of azo dyes in food matrices.