Ion-pairing reversed-phase chromatography with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry applied to simultaneous determination of arsenic and selenium species in functional food American ginseng.

Background: The toxicity of heavy metals and harmful elements is highly dependent on their chemical species. However, research on the simultaneous analysis of inorganic and organic species in complex matrices remains limited. This study presents a rapid and sensitive method for the concurrent determination of arsenic and selenium species using reversed-phase chromatography with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Enzyme-assisted extraction was employed to enhance the efficiency of target analyte recovery.

Results: By utilizing ion-pairing reagents and a mobile phase consisting of 20 mmol L citric acid with 2.0% methanol at pH 4.0, six arsenic species and five selenium species were simultaneously analyzed in kinetic energy discrimination mode within 10 min. The limits of detection for arsenic and selenium species ranged from 0.058 to 0.6 μg kg and 0.083 to 0.283 μg kg, respectively. The precision of the spiked American ginseng samples ranged from 1.07% to 11.08%, with recovery rates between 72.13% and 107.2%. The method successfully identified and quantified 11 elemental species.

Conclusion: The analysis of real American ginseng samples revealed that the predominant arsenic species were inorganic arsenic(V), while the primary selenium species was organic selenomethionine. This study provides a valuable and efficient method for the simultaneous monitoring of elemental species in functional foods, contributing to their safety assessment and quality control. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.