Changes of furanocoumarins content in vegetables during storage

Long term experiments, which simulated storage of celery (Apium graveolens) under industrial (airconditioned store)/household (common cellar) conditions, were carried out. Several celery cultivars from both organic and/or conventional production were monitored for furanocoumarins levels for 16–26 weeks. The increase of furanocoumarin concentrations during the storage of all the tested celery cultivars was observed, nevertheless, the extent of toxicants accumulation differed among tested cultivars. The changes of furanocoumarin levels occurring during processing of vegetables were studied, too. Levels of both linear (psoralen, bergapten, xanthotoxin, trioxsalen, isopimpinellin) and angular (angelicin, sphondin, isobergapten) furanocoumarins in tested vegetable were determined by validated GC/MS (SIM) method. The detection limits (LODs) obtained by this analytical method were around 0.003 mg/kg.