Sample Preparation Improvement in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Determination in Olive Oils by Gel Permeation Chromatography and Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection

Abstract The determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in olive oil samples has been improved in order to obtain a fast methodology with a low limit of detection through the combination of liquid–liquid extraction with acetonitrile and preparative gel permeation chromatography (GPC) prior to the injection of purified extracts into a C18 column. Acetonitrile–water was used as the mobile phase with a gradient from 50 to 95%, w/w, acetonitrile in 30 min. The oven temperature was maintained at 15°C, and fluorometric detection was made at a fixed excitation wavelength of 264 nm and variable, optimal emission wavelength for each analyte ranging from 352 nm for 11-H-benzo(b)fluor…