RAPID HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETECTION OF FUROSINE (ε‐N‐2‐FUROYLMETHYL‐L‐LYSINE) IN YOGURT AND CHEESE MARKETED IN TURKEY*

Furosine (ε‐N‐2‐furoylmethyl‐L‐lysine) content determination in the yogurt and different cheese types (pickled white, kasar, processed, canned tulum, blue‐veined and mozzarella cheeses) marketed in Turkey was performed using ion‐pair reversed‐phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP‐HPLC). Calibration study (R² = 0.9999), analytical method validation and recovery studies gave satisfactory results. The lowest furosine values were observed in pickled white cheeses (5.35 ± 0.01 to 7.28 ± 0.02 mg/100 g protein). All cheeses except pickled white showed furosine values between 182.16 ± 0.12 (canned tulum) and 261.32 ± 0.10 mg/100 g protein (ripened kasar). The highest content of furosine was observed in whole yogurt (316.47 ± 0.17 mg/100 g protein) which could be because of severe heat treatment and the addition of milk powder during the manufacturing process. The method provides a rapid, reproducible and accurate determination of this Amadori compound (ε‐deoxy‐fructosyl‐lysine) in yogurt and cheese samples.