Analysis of hop acids and their oxidized derivatives and iso-alpha-acids in beer by capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

This study investigates the applicability of on-line coupling of capillary electrophoresis with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (CZE-ESI-MS) for the separation and characterization of alpha- and beta-acids and oxidized hop acids from crude extracts of different hop varieties. CZE-ESI-MS with negative-ion electrospray ionization proved to be a suitable technique for the determination of these types of natural compounds and their oxidized derivatives. The CZE parameters (pH, concentration, and buffer type) and ESI-MS parameters (nature and flow rate of the sheath liquid, nebulizer pressure, drying gas flow rate, temperature, and compound stability) were optimized. The optimized method provides the potential for a fast qualitative determination of hop acids and their oxidation compounds. The method was also applied to the determination of iso-alpha-acids in beer.