Polycyclic aromatic compounds: extraction and determination in food.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in general, comprise the largest class of known environmental carcinogens. Reports of some studies of total diet in a number of developed countries indicate that food constitutes an important source of exposure of man to PACs, although other authors have shown the need to develop accurate data, in order that the overall public health hazard may be effectively evaluated and controlled. In this context, this review aims to give an overview of methods used to determine the PAC content of foodstuffs. At first, the nature, classification and derived compounds of PAHs are considered. Likewise, the occurrence of PAHs in processed and in non-processed foods is shown. The main causes are environmental contamination and the utilization of procedures which give rise to the presence of PACs during the processing, preservation, and packaging of foods. Octanol: water partition coefficients of PACs and their relationships with some properties, such as aqueous solubility and bioaccumulation, are considered. The solubility of complex mixtures of PACs in several organic solvents and the different methods for extraction and isolation of the PAC-fraction from foodstuffs are reviewed. The methodologies used for the separation, identification and quantitative determination also are briefly considered.