Straightforward analytical method to determine opium alkaloids in poppy seeds and bakery products

  • Food Chem. 2018 Mar 1;242:443-450. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.08.045.
Patricia López  1 ,  Diana P K H Pereboom-de Fauw  2 ,  Patrick P J Mulder  2 ,  Martien Spanjer  3 ,  Joyce de Stoppelaar  3 ,  Hans G J Mol  2 ,  Monique de Nijs  2
Affiliations
  • 1. RIKILT - Wageningen University & Research, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 2. RIKILT - Wageningen University & Research, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
  • 3. NVWA - Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Catharijnesingel 59, 3511 GG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PMID: 29037712 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.08.045
Abstract

A straightforward method to determine the content of six opium Alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, papaverine and narceine) in poppy seeds and bakery products was developed and validated down to a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.1mg/kg. The method was based on extraction with acetonitrile/water/formic acid, ten-fold dilution and analysis by LC-MS/MS using a pH 10 carbonate buffer. The method was applied for the analysis of 41 samples collected in 2015 in the Netherlands and Germany. All samples contained morphine ranging from 0.2 to 240mg/kg. The levels of codeine and thebaine ranged from below LOQ to 348mg/kg and from below LOQ to 106mg/kg, respectively. Sixty percent of the samples exceeded the guidance reference value of 4mg/kg of morphine set by BfR in Germany, whereas 25% of the samples did not comply with the limits set for morphine, codeine, thebaine and noscapine by Hungarian legislation.

Keywords
Codeine; LC-MS/MS; Morphine; Narceine; Noscapine; Papaverine; Thebaine.
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