Simultaneous determination of eight free- or cross-linked advanced glycation end products in different processed meat products based on UPLC-MS/MS

Developed UPLC-MS/MS for 8 free/cross-linked AGEs quantitation. • Achieved LODs 0.8–2.5 μg/L, surpassing prior reports. • Assessed AGEs in meat products, showing processing impacts. A universal ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous detection of eight free- or cross-linked advanced glycation end products (AGEs), including Nε-carboxymethyllysine, Nε-carboxyethyllysine, N δ -(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)ornithine, glyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone, methylglyoxal lysine dimer, glyoxal lysine dimer, pyrraline and argpyrimidine. This method achieved the separation and quantification of the eight AGEs substances within 16 min. All analytes exhibited high correlation coefficients (R 2  > 0.999) within their respective linear ranges. Limits of detection and quantification in reconstituted solution were 0.8–2.5 and 2.5–5.5 μg/L, corresponding to 0.08–0.25 and 0.25–0.55 mg/kg in samples. Respectively. Method validation was performed using crispy fried pork as a blank matrix. The recovery rates ranged from 85.5% to 122.0%, with acceptable intra-day and inter-day precision. This method was successfully applied to the detection of AGEs in 30 different representative meat products, providing technical support for the research on the formation and control of AGEs.