Detection of Hydrocarbons in Irradiated Chilled Beef by HS‐SPME–GC–MS and Optimization of the Method

The hydrocarbons 1,7‐hexadecadiene (1,7‐C16:2) and 8‐heptadecene (8‐C17:1), which are used as markers for identifying irradiated chilled beef, were easily detectable in chilled beef irradiated at 0.5 kGy or higher by using a new method of headspace solid‐phase microextraction, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS‐SPME–GC–MS). The conditions for using SPME were optimized in this study for qualitative and quantitative determination of 1,7‐C16:2 and 8‐C17:1 produced by γ‐radiation in chilled beef. The relationship between irradiation dose and production of hydrocarbons was also studied, which showed good linear correlation with the coefficients of 0.9942 and 0.9943 for 1,7‐C16:2 and 8‐C17:1, respectively. HS‐SPME–GC–MS is a simple and sensitive method for the analysis of hydrocarbons in irradiated chilled beef.