Determination of Free and Total Furfural Compounds in Infant Milk Formulas by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

HPLC methods are described for the determination of free and total furfurals in liquid and powdered infant milk formulas. (Hydroxymethyl)furfural, furfural, furyl methyl ketone, and methylfurfural were determined simultaneously in one run. Identical HPLC conditions were used to measure free and total furfural compounds, although there were slight differences in sample preparation. The chromatographic technique involved the separation of the furfural compounds in a C18 column using an isocratic mobile phase (water−acetonitrile) and a variable-wavelength absorbance detector. Linearity, precision, recovery, and sensitivity were always satisfactory. Detection limits ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 μg/mL, and determination limits ranged from 0.02 to 0.06 μg/mL of liquid infant milk or 15% (P/V) reconstituted powdered infant milk. In addition, we report the levels of furfural compounds in 12 commercial infant milk formulas (powdered and liquid) produced in Spain. (Hydroxymethyl)furfural and furfural were higher in infant milk formulas than in powdered cow milks. Levels of total furfural compounds were the same in powdered and liquid infant milk formulas. However, levels of free furfurals were higher in powdered than in liquid infant milks. Keywords: Furfurals; infant milk; (hydroxymethyl)furfural; Maillard reaction