HPTLC-Densitometry Screening and Mass Identification of Fluorescent Whitening Agents Contamination in Cereal Flour

In recent years, there was increasing concerns on food safety issues associated with fluorescent whitening agents from package materials. Here, we reported the development of a facile and reliable method suitable for high-throughput quantification and identification of two common fluorescent whitening agents (FWA 184 and FWA 367) in cereal products (wheat and rice flour), platformed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography. First, the sample preparation and cleanup were rapidly accomplished via an optimized solid–liquid extraction. The extracts and reference standard were simultaneously separated on silica gel plates, using the mixture of toluene and ethyl acetate (10/0.3, v/v) as the mobile phase. Then, rapid quantification was performed with densitometry in fluorescent mode (365