title: Determination of α-keto acids in pork meat and Iberian ham via tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: An analytical method which offers accurate determination and identification of eight α-keto acids (α-ketoglutaric acid, pyruvic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid, 3-methyl-2-oxobutyric acid, α-keto-γ-methylthiobutyric acid, 4-methyl-2-oxovaleric acid, 3-methyl-2-oxovaleric acid, and phenylpyruvic acid) in pork meat and Iberian ham samples is reported. The method utilises a highly selective and sensitive method of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) by mass spectrometry. The analytical method is simple (although the chemical derivatisation of the α-keto acids with dansylhydrazine is required), precise (<18% RSD), accurate (90-110%), sensitive (0.01-0.34 mg/kg of defatted and freeze-dried meat depending on the α-keto acid) and linear (R>0.99) over several orders of magnitude (until 0.01-146.1 mg/kg of defatted and freeze-dried meat depending on the α-keto acid). Using this methodology, α-keto acids were found to be present in pork meat to a low extent, and their concentration increased when they were determined in Iberian ham. This is the first report of the presence of α-keto acids in both pork meats and Iberian hams.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avenida Padre García Tejero 4, 41012 Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zamora
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007651:Keto Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain; D013552:Swine; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007651:Keto Acids