Determination of Alloxan in Flour by Capillary Electrophoresis with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

We have developed a fast and efficient method for the determination of alloxan in flour samples by capillary electrophoresis with tandem mass spectrometry without derivatization step. Mass spectra of alloxan were studied in detail providing characteristic signals at m/z 159, 141 and 115. The separation lasted 8 min under the optimum conditions using 50 mM ammonium acetate pH 9.5 as the background electrolyte and uric acid as the internal standard. Five flour samples including bleached flour from the USA were analyzed and alloxan was not detected in any of these samples.