Quantitation of acrylamide in foods by high-resolution mass spectrometry

The use of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) in combination with ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography (U-HPLC-HRMS) or direct analysis real time (DART-HRMS) defines new scenarios in the analysis of thermally induced toxicants, such as acrylamide. Several chemical factors contribute to the drawbacks related to the acrylamide quantitation: high polarity, low molecular weight, presence of isobaric compounds, and matrix effects. U-HPLC-HRMS offers some advantages as the possibility to resolve analytes of interest from the interferences, high reproducibility, high mass accuracy for elemental mass composition, unequivocal assignment of isotopes for parental ions and fragments. In parallel, DART approach can combine compound identification and chemometric tools as a specific declination of HRMS techniques. A general overview of the pros and cons related to acrylamide quantitation by HRMS is provided focusing on the relationship between predictive, indirect, and targeted MS analysis. Both techniques are compared to low-resolution tandem mass spectrometry to get more insights into the development of analytical strategies for acrylamide quantitation.