Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in commercial roasted coffee beans

This study was conducted to investigate the presence of 7 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) [benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (CRY), benzo[b] fluoranthene (BbF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), benzo[a] pyrene (BaP), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DahA), benzo [g,h,i]perylene (BghiP)] in roasted coffee beans from Korean market. In this study, the method for sample preparation involved liquid-liquid extraction after saponification with potassium hydroxide (KOH), followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE). The external standard method was used for measurement, and regression coefficients ranged from 0.9938 to 0.9995. To determine how much of the analyte remained in the samples after sample preparation, 3-methylcholanthrene was spiked into the samples for a recovery study. The limits of detection and quantification of the 7 PAHs ranged from 0.016 to 0.497 and 0.054 to 1.656 μg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of PAHs in the 10 coffee samples ranged from 0.62±0.08 to 53.25±9.38 μg/kg. According to the results, the critically harmful PAH, BaP, was presented at levels harmless to humans.