Evaluating the stability of tropane and opium alkaloids during baking in homemade gluten-free poppy seed crackers

Nowadays, alternative flour to wheat, such as teff and corn are increasingly used in gluten-free bakery products, and seeds, such as poppy seeds (whole or ground) are added for their beneficial nutritional properties. However, these ingredients may be contaminated with natural toxins such as tropane (TAs) and opium (OAs) alkaloids. To reduce toxin exposure, it is essential to assess their thermal degradation during baking. The study aimed to quantify TAs and OAs in doughs before and after baking to evaluate their degradation while preparing homemade gluten-free ground poppy seed crackers. To achieve this, a novel methodology involving solid-liquid extraction (SLE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) with a bifunctionalized mesostructured silica SBA-15 sorbent (50 mg), followed by UHPLC-MS/MS analysis, was developed and validated. The method validation showed good linearity (R² ≥ 0.991), precision (%RSD ≤17%), accuracy (88–104% for TAs and 79–106% for OAs), and low quantification limits (0.6–1.1 μg/kg for TAs and 0.06–0.46 mg/kg for OAs). The results showed no significant reduction of the alkaloids in the homemade gluten-free ground poppy seed crackers, showing that both families of natural toxins can remain in foods even after intense heat treatments, highlighting the need for accurate monitoring of these natural toxins in processed food.