Conveniently monitoring aldehyde changes in heated edible oils using miniaturized kapok fiber-supported liquid-phase extraction/in-situ derivatization coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Heating edible oils generates aldehydes, potentially leading to adverse health effects, making their analysis essential for quality control. This study presents a convenient miniaturized kapok fiber-supported liquid-phase extraction/in-situ derivatization method for the simultaneous extraction and derivatization of aldehydes in oils. The method involves placing 150 mg oil into a 1 mL pipette tip packed with 25 mg kapok fiber, adding 150 μL ACN with 1.5 mg mL−1 DNPH, and post 30-minute static extraction, retrieving the extractant with a pipettor for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. By optimizing critical parameters through a Box-Behnken design, the method exhibits good linearity (1–500 ng g−1, R2 ≥ 0.991), low detection limits (0.2–1.0 ng g−1), excellent accuracy (95.3–107.1%) and high precisions (relative standard deviation <7.9%). This method simplifies sample preparation processes, cuts solvent use, and facilitates automation. It effectively identifies ten aldehyde variations in six heated oils, displaying distinct profiles consistent with prior research.