Abstract: A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) with ultrasonic-assisted two-step enzymatic pretreatment for the determination of the starch content in meat products was developed. After pretreatment, the sample was separated on a C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm), using acetonitrile-20 mmol/L ammonium acetate (22:78, V/V) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and detected by an ultraviolet detector at a wavelength of 245 nm. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 5–50 mg/L with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.999. The average recoveries of spiked hydrolysate were between 88.0% and 96.6% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 5% (n = 6). The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.4 μg/mL, and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method was 0.16% by using α-amylase and amyloglucosidase. With the advantages of high repeatability and recovery over the national standard methods, this method is suitable for the determination of starch in meat products.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography, hydrolysis, meat floss, starch, detection