Microextraction by packed sorbent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in brewed coffee samples with a new zwitterionic ionic liquid-modified silica sorbent

A simple, sensible, and high-throughput method was developed for determining selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from brewed coffee samples. Three sorbents based on ionic liquids supported on silica particles were synthesized, characterized, and assessed as extraction phases in microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). A synthesized zwitterionic ionic liquid-based sorbet (zIL@SiO2) exhibited superior extraction capabilities. The most relevant influencing parameters on the zIL@SiO2-based MEPS performance were systematically investigated. Under selected conditions, the MEPS method took less than 5 min and showed excellent linearity, precision, and trueness, from 5 to 100 mu g L-1 (R2 from 0.998 to 0.999). The method's accuracy was between ca. 73.34% and 118.66%; the precision, evaluated as the coefficient of variance (% RSD) for intraday and interday analysis, varied from 0.21% to 11.50%. The recovery percentage was 81.06-118.81%, and the detection limits (S/N = 3) ranged between 1.0 and 1.5 mu g L-1. The developed zIL@SiO2-MEPS-GC-MS method was applied to investigate 13 different Colombian and Brazilian coffee samples, allowing the detection and quantification of dangerous PAHs in the studied samples. The method is demonstrated to be a straightforward, fast, confident, and environment-friendly approach for surveillance pollutants in complex beverage samples.

Automated summary

A simple, sensible, and high-throughput method was developed for determining selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from brewed coffee samples. Three sorbents based on ionic liquids supported on silica particles were synthesized, characterized, and assessed as extraction phases in microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). A synthesized zwitterionic ionic liquid-based sorbet (zIL@SiO2) exhibited superior extraction capabilities. The method showed excellent linearity, precision, and trueness, and was successfully applied to investigate 13 different Colombian and Brazilian coffee samples.