Concentration and formation behavior of naturally occurring formaldehyde in foods

Abstract

Background: In recent years, formaldehyde is reported to be widely used as a food preservative to increase the shelf life of fruits and fishes in tropical countries. Formaldehyde is detrimental to human health. Hence, use of formaldehyde as a food preservative is legally prohibited in most of the countries. To regulate formaldehyde application in foods, the regulatory bodies often conduct on-the-spot analytical tests to detect artificially added formaldehyde in food items. However, formaldehyde is ubiquitous in the environment and is present in many animal and plant species as a product of their normal metabolism. This naturally occurring formaldehyde may interfere in the detection of artificially added formaldehyde in foods. It is, therefore, important to study the concentration and formation mechanism of naturally occurring formaldehyde in food items. Results: In this study, the formaldehyde contents of food samples were determined using spectrophotometric technique. The naturally occurring formaldehyde contents of a wide range of fruit, vegetable, milk, poultry, mutton and meat samples were determined. In addition, formaldehyde contents of processed food items, such as: cooked beef and poultry, beverages, and commercially available UHT milk and powdered milk samples, were also assessed and analyzed. The naturally occurring formaldehyde contents of fruit, vegetable, milk, poultry, mutton and meat samples were found up to 58.3, 40.6, 5.2, 8.2, 15.2 and 8.5 ppm, respectively. Formaldehyde contents of commercially available UHT milk, powdered milk, beverages, cooked beef and poultry were found up to 187.7, 194.1, 21.7, 4.3 and 4.0 ppm, respectively. This study also analyzed the time dynamic behavior of the formation of endogenous formaldehyde content of banana (AAB genome of Musa spp.), mandarin and beef. Conclusions: The experimental results provide a baseline data of natural occurring formaldehyde content of the analyzed food items. The formation behavior of formaldehyde may vary according to food types, storage temperature, storing time, and aging pattern of the food items. The findings of this study will be useful for the consumers, researchers, legal authorities and other stakeholders working on food safety and preservation.

Simple click chemistry‐based derivatization to quantify endogenous formaldehyde in milk using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in selected reaction monitoring mode

“…26 Foods derived from animal origin like milk and fish are known to contain trace amounts of FA and these two food samples are the most frequently adulterated. [27][28][29] This validated method could quantify accurately the level of endogenous FA in raw and pasteurized milk. Goat milk samples showed slightly higher levels (median: 255 ng/mL) compared with those from cow: 155 mg/mL and buffalo: 134 ng/mL.…”

Pengaruh Konsentrasi dan Lama Perendaman Air Perasan Daun Pegagan terhadap Kualitas Daging Babi Ditinjau dari Uji Organoleptik

“…Pengawet tersebut digunakan untuk mencegah terjadinya pembusukan oleh bakteri patogen pada bahan pangan terutama yang berkadar air dan gizi tinggi seperti daging. Maka diperlukan suatu bahan alami yang aman dipakai untuk menurunkan cemaran bakteri tersebut (Nowshad et al, 2018).…”

Food and Formalin Detector Using Machine Learning Approach

“…The HCHO sensor senses the concentration of the formaldehyde from the detected fruit by placing near it. Considering naturally occurring formalin [19] in a fruits, our system identifies the level of artificially added formalin in a sample food. HC-05 Bluetooth module is used to interface the device with our self-made Android application.…”

“…Formaldehyde is one of the chemical compounds that naturally presents in many plants and animals for their normal metabolism [18], [19]. Concentration of natural occurring formalin in food items varies according to conditions and types of foods.…”