Determination of hexanal in infant formulas by headspace-gas chromatography

Infant formulas, whose lipid fraction is enriched with unsaturated vegetable oils, are sensitive to oxidation during storage. Oxidation gives rise to primary and secondary products. Among the latter, aldehydes are particularly important because of toxicological concern and their connection with the organoleptic alteration of foods. In this paper a headspace-gas chromatographic (HS-GC) method for the quantitative determination of hexanal is proposed. Hexanal is primarily obtained from the oxidation of Linoleic acid, the most abundant essential fatty acid in infant formulas. The developed method showed good accuracy and repeatability. Data useful for evaluating oxidative processes in infant formulas were obtained with the HS-GC method.