May 10th 2024
Michelle Colgrave of Edith Cowan University and Australia’s national science agency is the recipient of the 2024 Harvey W. Wiley Award.
In Vino Veritas: LC–MS in Wine Analysis
December 1st 2007Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) is a popular technique for the analysis of wine. This article gives an overview of wine analysis and new insights this technique has revealed regarding the composition of wine, possible health benefits, customer safety and the understanding of winemaking processes.
QuEChERS — A New Technique for Multiresidue Analysis of Pesticides in Foods and Agricultural Samples
November 1st 2007This month's instalment of "Sample Prep Perspectives" describes a new extraction technique called QuEChERS (standing for quick, easy, cheap, effective and safe and is pronounced "catchers") for the sample preparation of pesticides in foods and agricultural samples. The technique uses simple glassware, a minimal amount of organic solvent and various salt/buffer additives to partition analytes into an organic phase for clean up by dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE). The technique provides good recoveries, is reproducible and costs less than other sample preparation approaches. The technique is being adopted by many laboratories worldwide. It has the potential for applications outside of the pesticide in foods area.
The Determination of Furan in Foods — Challenges and Solutions
October 1st 2007The determination of the carcinogenic food processing contaminant furan by headspace sampling of foods is challenging because it can easily escape from the sample during preparation. Furan can also be easily formed as a by-product when the sample is heated in the headspace apparatus. This article describes a number of approaches to overcome these difficulties and alternative methods to quantify furan in a variety of matrices.
New Chromatographic Techniques for Pesticides and Antibiotics Analysis
September 17th 2007Science Daily, a website that features news revolving around the sciences, has published an article that describes new chromatographic techniques for the analysis of pesticides and antibiotics in food and beverage samples.
Analytical Techniques in the Wine Industry
September 8th 2007The Montreal Gazette published an article about the use of analytical techniques in the wine industry. The author discusses the difference between "natural" wines and "industrial" wines that are created with a certain taste profile in mind and with the assistance of gas chromatography.
Fast LC-MS-MS Quantitation of N-Methyl Carbamate Pesticides in Food
August 30th 2007A fast quantitation method for the analysis of N-Methyl Carbamate pesticide residues in vegetables and grains has been developed. High recoveries were obtained for most carbamates screened in all matrices tested at 1 ppb levels. Good linearity of the calibration curves was observed for all analytes, over the range from 1 ppb to 200 ppb levels, with r2 greater than 0.99.
A Miniaturized Method to Determine Epoxidized Soybean Oil in Baby Food
May 1st 2007This article describes the development of a routine method to analyse epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) in baby food based on a previous method devised by Castle et al. The aim was to simplify the work-up procedure to reduce the strain on the analytical equipment. The extraction procedure was miniaturized to improve handling, reduce the resources needed and simplify the method. After derivatization, the extracts were cleaned using gel permeation chromatography (GPC). A modified gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method using pulsed splitless injection was developed to determine the analyte. For quality control (QC), peak area ratios (PARs) were calculated and evaluated in terms of functionality under routine conditions. The method was validated according to EU regulations at a level of 20 ppm and showed high reproducibility. The miniaturized method proved to be applicable to all investigated baby food matrices and demonstrated the benefits of a GPC clean-up step to reduce strain on the..
The Application of GC–MS to the Analysis of Pesticides on Foodstuffs
March 2nd 2007Pesticide contamination of foodstuffs has become a worldwide concern, prompting various levels of regulation and monitoring. Traditionally, pesticides are quantified with gas chromatography (GC) combined with selective detectors (ECD, FID, etc.). Selective GC detectors are great tools to quantify one or two classes at a time. However, screening for a number of different classes of pesticides requires multiple runs utilizing various GC configurations to achieve sufficient chromatographic resolution for unambiguous quantification. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) provides positive confirmation of various pesticides in a single analytical run because its superior selectivity allows interference-free quantification even with peak coelution. GC–MS has become a preferred technique for pesticide analysis because of its single-run capability.
Accelerated Buffer System for Amino Acid Analysis
March 2nd 2007The continual increase in sample numbers in busy labs means that it is often difficult for quality control or contract analysis labs to maintain short turnaround times, particularly when instruments are already running at full capacity. To address the need for faster analysis while retaining the quality of separation offered by dedicated amino acid analysers, an improved formulation of sodium citrate based buffers has been developed by Biochrom.
Gas Chromatography?Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis
March 1st 2007Gas chromatography (GC) coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) offers unique solutions for various analytical applications including the analysis of food quality, authenticity and safety markers. This article provides a general overview of TOF-MS basic features, highlighting its advantages and limitations compared with GC using conventional mass analyzers. Examples of recent results obtained for selected food contaminants and flavor components are described to illustrate the potential of this recently introduced technique.
Gas Chromatography-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis
March 1st 2007Gas chromatography (GC) coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) offers unique solutions for various analytical applications including the analysis of food quality, authenticity and safety markers. This article provides a general overview of TOF-MS basic features, highlighting its advantages and limitations compared with GC conventional mass analyzers. Examples of recent results obtained selected food contaminants and flavor components are described illustrate the potential of this recently introduced technique.
Gas Chromatography–Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis
January 1st 2007Gas chromatography (GC) coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) offers unique solutions for various analytical applications including the analysis of food quality, authenticity and safety markers. This article provides a general overview of TOF-MS basic features, highlighting its advantages and limitations compared with GC using conventional mass analysers. Examples of recent results obtained for selected food contaminants and flavour components are described to illustrate the potential of this recently introduced technique.
Innovations in Food Analysis — Analysis of Peptides, Additives and Flavours
December 2nd 2006The analysis of peptides and additives using a new HPLC innovative column technology, Pathfinder, was shown. For the analysis of flavours in lemon juice GC–MS with a new MS library, FFNSC, with linear retention indices was used.