Determination of glutathione in ready-to-eat edible bird's nest using a novel LC-MS method

Glutathione (GSH) is a strong antioxidant. However, there was no method to determine the GSH in ready -to -eat edible bird's nest (EBN). A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed for the determination of GSH in ready -to -eat EBN in this study. The method involves extraction by formic acid and methanol, vortex, ultra sonication and analysis using HPLC-MS/MS. The results showed that the linearity was good in the concentration range of 0.05-200 mu g/L. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification of the method were 0.1 mu g/kg and 1.0 mu g/kg. In addition, the recovery was 90.6-100.4% and the relative standard deviation was 1.2-2.5%. Moreover, the content of GSH in ready -to -eat EBN produced by different stewing treatment was investigated. It was found that the content of GSH in ready -to -eat EBN increased with the increasing stewing time and temperature. When the stewing temperature was above 110(degrees)C and the stewing time was above 15 min, it was more conducive to the formation of GSH in ready -to -eat EBN. In conclusion, this study provided a new method for the determination of GSH in ready -to -eat EBN, and also opened up a new direction for exploring the nutritional value of ready -to -eat EBN.