The presence of 2-acetyl-4(5)-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroxybutyl)-imidazole (THI) in beverages has raised several concerns regarding its toxicity to humans. The sample preparation and detection of THI in complex matrices is challenging owing to its high water solubility. Here we reported a rapid sample preparation method based on dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (D-μ-SPE) using polymer cation exchange sorbent as sorbent for the extraction of THI from beverage samples. THI was detected by high performance anion exchange chromatography-pulsed amperometric detector (HPAEC-PAD) and high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The experimental parameters of D-μ-SPE on extraction efficiency were carefully optimized. Under the optimized conditions, high recoveries (83.4–96.1%) and good reproducibility (%RSD ≤ 8.7%) were obtained using D-μ-SPE-HPAEC-PAD and D-μ-SPE-HPLC-MS/MS. Limit of quantification was 75 ng/mL for HPAEC-PAD and 5 ng/mL for HPLC-MS/MS. This work proves the potential application the newly developed method for the quantification of THI in beverages containing caramel color.

饮料中2-乙酰基-4（5）-（1,2,3,4-四羟基丁基）-咪唑（THI）的存在引起了人们对其对人体毒性的担忧。由于THI的高水溶性，因此在复杂基质中进行样品制备和THI检测具有挑战性。在这里，我们报道了一种快速的样品制备方法，该方法基于分散型微固相萃取（D-μ-SPE），使用聚合物阳离子交换吸附剂作为吸附剂从饮料样品中提取THI。通过高效阴离子交换色谱-脉冲安培检测器（HPAEC-PAD）和高效液相色谱-串联质谱（HPLC-MS / MS）检测THI。精心优化了D-μ-SPE的萃取效率实验参数。在优化的条件下，高回收率（83.4–96.1％）和良好的重现性（％RSD≤8）。使用D-μ-SPE-HPAEC-PAD和D-μ-SPE-HPLC-MS/ MS获得7％）。HPAEC-PAD的定量限为75 ng / mL，HPLC-MS / MS的定量限为5 ng / mL。这项工作证明了新开发的定量焦糖色素饮料中THI的方法的潜在应用。