Determination of Psoralens in Child Food (Soups and Baby Food) from Brazil by High-performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

Psoralens are considered natural toxins, present in edible plants, which act as protectors against fungi, insects, and herbivores. In this study, an analytical procedure suitable for sample preparation and an HPLC-UV method were developed for the quantification of psoralens in child food (soups and baby food). The samples were lyophilized and 5.00 g of solid was extracted with 25 mL of MeOH:HCl (1000:1), under magnetic stirring at 40 °C for 30 min. Separation was carried out on a C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile (20 to 100%) and water. Spectrophotometric detection with a wavelength of 246 nm was used. The method to determine psoralens in child food showed adequate linearity, repeatability, and accuracy. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) obtained for psoralens were 0.02 and 0.08 μg g−1, respectively. The concentrations (minimum–maximum in μg/100 g) of psoralens in the samples ranged from 71.9 to 877.4. The intake of approximately 45-mg psoralen and UVA exposure can result in various skin lesions. Therefore, the results showed that the developed method is simple, fast, and reliable for the determination of psoralens in child food (soups and baby food).