Abstract: The contents of three advanced glycation end products (AGEs), namely (Nε-carboxymethyllysine (CML), Nε-carboxyethyllysine (CEL) and Nδ-(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)-ornithine (MG-H1) in commercial baked, deep-fried, dried and canned fish products were determined, and their relationships with components in processed fish products were analyzed. A method for the determination of AGEs by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) with an ACQUITY UPLC BEH amide column was established, and applied to determine the content of AGEs in 65 commercial samples of processed fish products. The results showed MG-H1 was more abundant than CEL and CML in processed fish products. The content of MG-H1 was twice to 11 times higher than that of CEL and twice to 20 times higher than that of CML. The contents of the AGEs in canned fish were higher when compared to those in the other types of fish products. The contents of glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) were relatively high in deep-fried fish products. Furthermore, a positive correlation between the contents of the three AGEs (r ≥ 0.54, P < 0.001) was found by principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis. The contents of these AGEs were positively correlated with the content of lipids, but negatively correlated with the content of proteins. The content of MG-H1 was positively correlated with the content of MGO in baked and dried fish products.

Key words: advanced glycation end products; ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; fish products