Abstract

A gelatin aerogel tablet was used as a vortex assisted solid phase extraction (VA-SPE) sorbent for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) in tea samples. They have been quantified by a high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The method shows good linearity (R² = 0.999) at concentrations of 5.00–200 ng L⁻¹, with the limits of detection of 1.65 ± 0.02, 1.81 ± 0.02, and 2.06 ± 0.03 ng L⁻¹ for BaA, BbF, and BaP, respectively. Good reproducibility (RSDs < 0.24%, n = 6), good precision (RSDs < 6.3%), and excellent reusability (n = 40, RSDs < 0.17%) were achieved. The tablet can extract PAHs within 1.5 min with good recoveries (70.10 ± 0.74% – 119.3 ± 4.1%). This method, which is simple, rapid, ecofriendly, and inexpensive, requires low consumption of organic solvent, and has potential application in food safety.