# Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Popcorn Corn Varieties and Popcorns
## 3 Results and Discussion  
Since popcorn corn is exposed to environmental conditions and agrotechnical measures in the field, it is reasonable to assume that PAHs can be found in popcorn corn. The results of this research analysis showed that a certain type and quantity of PAHs can be detected in popcorn corns. Namely, Table 1 shows the concentrations of PAHs in popcorn corn, and it is evident that the amounts of PAHs mostly comprised light PAHs. Detected light PAHs in this research, for both years (Tables 1 and 2), were Nap, Ane, and Flu. The highest concentration of Nap was detected in sample 3, with 3.63 \(\pm\) 0.02 \(\upmu\)g/kg, in 2019, while the highest concentration of Flu was detected in the same sample in 2020 (7.22 \(\upmu\)g/kg). From the results, it appears that the standard hybrid Bulut (sample 5) showed \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Sample**} \\ \hline
**PAH** & **1** & **2** & **3** & **4** & **5** & **6** \\ \hline Nap & 2.58 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.78 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & 3.63 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.27 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.02 & - & 1.34 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.02 \\ Ane & 0.35 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & 0.22 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.06 & 0.23 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & - & - & - \\ Fln & 0.55 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.56 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.05 & 0.51 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 & 1.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & - & 1.13 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 \\ \hline \(\upmu\)PAH16 & 3.48 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 & 2.56 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & 4.37 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.11 & 1.29 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & - & 2.47 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* below limit of quantification.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: PAH content (\(\upmu\)g/kg) in different popcorn corn varieties in year 2019.  
the highest resistance to PAHs in popcorn corn, especially in 2019. This is probably related to the amount of fat in popcorn corns. The lack of heavy PAHs can probably be attributed to the hard and waxy coat of the maize kernel, which retains some of the lighter environmental PAHs (during cultivation and growing). Although there are not many similar studies conducted on popcorn corn, nor corn in general, these results can be compared with the research conducted by [PERSON] et al. (2016), in which no PAHs were detected in corn grains before drying, or with the work of [PERSON] et al. (2017), who also conducted a similar study. They conducted PAH analysis for three years, during which they detected mostly light PAHs in corn kernels, i.e., Nap, Flu, and Ane. The highest concentration was recorded for Nap, with around 4 ug/kg for each year from a location in Cluj-Napoca. Other PAHs were detected in lower concentrations. The total sum of all detected PAHs in their research was over 7 ug/kg. On the other hand, the amounts of PAHs in the popcorns analyzed in this research were significant for some PAHs and some samples. Tables 3 and 4 show the amounts of PAHs in popcorn that was popped in a bag. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & & & & \\ \hline
**PAH** & **1** & **2** & **3** & **4** & **5** & **6** \\ \hline Nap & 0.43 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.03 & 3.22 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.05 & - & 0.16 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & - & 0.34 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 \\ Ane & 0.35 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & - & - & - & - & - \\ Fln & 3.23 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.26 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.05 & 7.22 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.04 & 0.53 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 3.24 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & - \\ \hline \(\sum\)PAH16 & 4.00 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 4.48 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.05 & 7.22 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.04 & 0.69 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 3.24 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.34 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.01 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* below limit of quantification.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: PAH content (\(\mu\)g/kg) in different popcorn corn varieties in year 2020.