Determination of organic contaminants in food by capillary electrophoresis

Abstract

This review addresses recent advances in the analysis of organic contaminants, such as antibiotics, pesticides, biological toxins, and food‐borne pathogens, in foods by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Special attention is paid to those aspects that increase sensitivity and/or selectivity, such as sample extraction and concentration, on‐line preconcentration techniques (stacking), affinity capillaries or/and specific detectors (laser induced fluorescence (LIF), mass spectrometry (MS)). The various CE modes used to separate the compounds and the quantification strategies are also examined. As a result, this work presents an updated overview on the principal applications of CE, together with a discussion of their main advantages and drawbacks, and an outline of future trends in the analysis of organic contaminants in food.