Hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) techniques coupled to chromatographic systems have been widely used for extraction and determination of diverse compounds. HF-LPME was able to provide better results in precision, accuracy, selectivity and enrichment factor, in addition to reduction of matrix effect and carry over. It is applicable within a wide pH range and compatible with most analytical instruments which enable the utilization of HF-LPME in a wide variety of applications. This review focused on the modified HF-LPME techniques, efficiency, comparison to other LPME methods and applications.

A method for the analysis of aflatoxins in food samples was developed. The preliminary work focused on optimizing sample pretreatment conditions such as the extraction solvent; the type and amount of drying agents; the extraction time; and the solvent-sample ratio. A 60:40 methanol/acetonitrile (%, v/v) extraction mixture provided recoveries in the range of 71.8–107.7% at spike levels of 1.5–50.0 µg/kg with relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 15%. The separation of the four aflatoxin compounds with high selectivity and sensitivity, and within reasonable retention times, was performed by a C18 250 mm × 4.6 mm × 5 µm column (Nucleodur 250-5) at 45°C. The developed QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) procedure, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was then compared with the fluorometric determination method. It was found that the fluorometric determination method had a poor precision and positive bias as compared to QuEChERS-HPLC method. A total of 669 domestic and imported food samples in Jordan were analyzed for their aflatoxins content. Peanut and peanut butter samples showed the highest incidence of contamination (10 contaminations) followed by pistachio nut samples (6 contaminations) and sesame seed samples (2 contaminations).