IS THERE ANY MUSTARD IN MUSTARD SAUCES? AN IMPORTANT APPLICATION SOLVED BY FT-IR AND FT-MS

Mustard consumption can bring some benefits to humans as it has antioxidant activity, vitamins and minerals, possible anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. One of the many ways of consuming it is through mustard sauces that are prepared by using white and/or black seeds, alongside common additives. A mustard sauce that does not contain mustard in its composition can compromise health and nutritional value of products and is creating a sense of insecurity in people. In order to ensure food safety, clear definitions about processed foods in regulations are essential to provide an inspection through rigorous analysis, ensuring consumers that they are buying what is in the product label. Therefore, in order to improve food quality assurance, and to assist in developing a legal definition for mustard sauces, we developed a fast and simple methodology by using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy to characterize mustard. The characterization of mustard through the FTIR analysis resulted that the regions of 3600 - 2800 cm-1, 1800
- 1400 cm-1 and 1200 - 900 cm-1 presented the most intensity. And through mass spectrometry and statistical analysis we were able to identify some of mustard compounds already described in the literature. Assisting through simple and sophisticated analytical techniques in the certification and standardization of mustards and mustard sauces.