Fast UPLC/PDA determination of squalene in Sicilian P.D.O. pistachio from Bronte: optimization of oil extraction method and analytical characterization

A fast reversed-phase UPLC method was developed for squalene determination in Sicilian pistachiosamples that entry in the European register of the products with P.D.O. In the present study the SPEprocedure was optimized for the squalene extraction prior to the UPLC/PDA analysis. The precisionof the full analytical procedure was satisfactory and the mean recoveries were 92.8 + 0.3 % and96.6 + 0.1 % for 25 and 50 mg L-1 level of addition, respectively. Selected chromatographicconditions allowed a very fast squalene determination; in fact it was well separated in ~ 0.54 minwith good resolution. Squalene was detected in all the pistachio samples analyzed and the levelsranged from 55.45 to 226.34 mg . kg-1. Comparing our results with those of other studies it emergesthat squalene contents in P.D.O. Sicilian pistachio samples, generally, were higher than thosemeasured for other samples of different geographic origins.