Use of polarography as a quality-control method for determining diacetyl in citrus and vegetable juices, yoghurt and butter

The determination of diacetyl permits the detection of microbial growth in the processing of citrus fruit before the appearance of other organoleptic, chemical or microbiological changes. It also makes it possible to detect a break in the cold chain during distribution and sale. The study proposed a polarographic method for the determination of diacetyl that allowed routine analysis with the aim of detecting possible contamination in the citrus juice manufacturing chain (orange and orange-carrot). The analytical performance of the method in terms of a linearity from 0 to 960 μg ml-1, a recovery of 97 to 98%, a precision of 3.2 to 4.8%, and a sensitivity of 0.2 ng ml-1 for juices indicated the robustness of the method. The same method was also applied to butter and yoghurt with detection limits of and 0.4 ng g-1.