Investigation of benzoic acid and sorbic acid concentrations in tomato paste, pepper paste, ketchup, mayonnaise, and barbeque sauce samples by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

In this study, it was aimed at investigating benzoic acid (BA) and sorbic acid (SoA) concentrations in tomato paste, pepper paste, ketchup, mayonnaise, and barbeque sauce samples by a validated static headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Salicylic acid (SalA) was used as internal standard and the measurements were conducted in the wide linear concentration ranges of BA and SoA which were 2.5-5000 and 12.5-5000, respectively. The limit of detections (LODs) were determined to be 1.5 and 4.5 mg/kg while the limit of quantifications (LOQs) were 2.5 and 12.5 mg/kg for BA and SoA, respectively. The average recovery% values of BA and SoA were found to be 98.5% and 98.7% in an open tomato paste sample while these values were 98.7% and 100.3% in a mayonnaise sample, respectively. Accuracy of the proposed method was confirmed by statistically (significance test) evaluating excellent recovery values. In real samples, while the results of the canned tomato pastes and industrial sauce samples were found suitable, BA and SoA ​​were determined in some tomato and pepper paste products sold under the traditional or homemade name although use of the preservatives in the pastes were prohibited. It is vital for public health to prevent adulteration in pastes which is indispensable for Turkish cuisine as well as prevalently consumed in the world. Therefore, the proposed method can be used in food control laboratories due to its reliability and consumption of much less toxic chemical reagents.

Analysis of Biotinidase Activity in Serum by Digital Imaging Colorimetry Detection.

Biotinidase deficiency (BD) is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder of biotin recycling that leads to neurological and cutaneous consequences if left untreated. The clinical features of BD can be ameliorated or prevented by the administration of pharmacological doses of the vitamin biotin. Since it is a treatable disorder, BD is included in the newborn screening program in Türkiye as in many other countries. Therefore, monitoring of biotinidase enzyme activity (BEA) is of vital importance, especially for patients. The aim of this study was to develop a simple and reliable colorimetric method based on digital imaging for the analysis of BEA in serum samples. To determine the optimum distance and LED light source in the analyzer box that we fabricated in the laboratory, images of the solutions in a 96-well microplate were taken with a mobile phone camera, and each color space was examined. The most reliable relationship was between blank subtracted intensities of green channel and analyte concentrations, which was in the range of 35-400 ng/mL p-aminobenzoic acid (r2 = 0.999). The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 11 and 35 ng/mL, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to serum samples of 60 patients with BD and 60 healthy controls. We claim that the method can be easily performed for determination of BEA anywhere without needing expensive instruments.

Simultaneous determination of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in non-alcoholic beverages by a validated HS-GC-MS method with reduced waste.

A headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) method is presented for the simultaneous determination of benzoic acid (BA) and sorbic acid (SoA) in different types of non-alcoholic beverages. Sensitive and reliable results were achieved together with minimising consumption of reagents and samples. Salicylic acid (SalA) was used as internal standard (IS). It was necessary to derivatise BA, SoA and SalA to their methyl esters for HS-GC-MS measurement and extensive optimisation studies for in-vial derivatisation were carried out on the temperature, incubation time, injection time of the loopless HS, as well as on the concentration of sulphuric acid used as a catalyst. Validation studies carried out under optimum conditions after mixing 50 µL of sample and IS solutions with 200 µL of 4.5 M sulphuric acid in 22 mL HS vials revealed that the developed method was both very precise (relative standard deviation < 5%) and accurate (average recovery%: 101.0% for BA and 100.4% for SoA). The validated method was applied to a wide range of beverage types and the results compared with the relevant regulation and product label declarations.

Auto brewery syndrome from the perspective of the neurologist.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) is a rare condition that causes the digestive system to produce intoxicating amounts of alcohol due to abnormal growth of the gut microbiota. Medicolegal inferences of ABS have two distinct edges. First, malingering in drunk-driving and abusing the syndrome as a factitious disorder may occur. Second, patients suffering from the syndrome may face medicolegal and social problems. Moreover, chronic exposure to alcohol due to undiagnosed ABS might result in cognitive and behavioral disturbances. Here, we present a patient with recurrent encephalopathy episodes and chronic cognitive disturbances, who was diagnosed with the auto-brewery syndrome, to emphasize the neurocognitive consequences of the syndrome. CASE PRESENTATION: A 58 years old female presented with mild cognitive impairment, behavioral disturbances, and recurrent encephalopathy episodes. The history of hemicolectomy, an odd smell on her breath, and cravings for high carbohydrate meals during the paroxysmal episodes raised the suspicion of ABS. Her blood ethanol concentration reached 315 mg/dL following an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and stool analysis revealed increased colonization with C. krusei and C. parapsilosis. She was free of the acute episodes, cognitive and behavioral disturbances improved, and C. krusei and C. parapsilosis were eliminated from the intestinal flora with dietary recommendations and nystatin treatment. CONCLUSION: The auto brewery syndrome is a rare disorder of dysbiosis leading to a disturbed gut-brain axis. Being a treatable and relatively benign diagnosis, presentation of the ABS with neurocognitive disturbances necessitates highlighting.

Discrimination and authentication of geographical origin of Turkish Tasköprü garlic by investigating volatile organosulfur compound profiles and multivariate analyses.

Nowadays, counterfeiting and adulteration on foods take place around the world in a variety of ways. Identification and authentication of geographical origin of agricultural products has great importance not only for food safety, but for protection of registrations as well. This study aimed at discriminating the Turkish Tasköprü garlic, possessing protected geographical indication (GI) in Turkey and GI registration from the European Union, from the other samples. For this reason, the combination of headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) analysis of the volatile organosulfur compounds (VOSCs) and two multivariate analysis techniques, namely hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), were employed for classifying the garlic samples on the basis of their geographical origin. Discrimination of Tasköprü garlic and the other samples including a suspicious sample imported from China was accomplished by performing two dimensional and three dimensional PCA analyses to relative amounts of VOSCs and also to chromatogram raw data.

Ion chromatographic method for the determination of orotic acid in urine.

Excess urinary orotic acid excretion occurs in patients with some inborn errors of metabolic pathways such as pyrimidine synthesis and urea cycle. Thus, rapid diagnosis of orotic aciduria has a vital importance for patients. In this paper, a novel method for determination of orotic acid in urine samples by ion chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection was investigated. The separation of orotic acid from urine matrix was accomplished by using an anion exchange column with optimized isocratic eluent program which utilized 50 mM NaOH. The other chromatographic conditions were as follows: the suppressor current was 31 mA; the flow rate of mobile phase was 0.25 mL min-1; the column temperature was 30 °C; sample loop volume was 10 µL. Under optimized conditions, the limit of detection was 0.2 µmol L‾1. Dramatically elevated orotic acid concentration was observed on pathological urine samples comparing to healthy urines, as expected. There are a good many advantages of the proposed method, but using an environmentally friendly reagent free system, no organic solvent employment and its quick nature, and being a sensitive and reliable method are the most obvious ones. The proposed method, therefore, may be utilized as an alternative technique for clinical laboratories.

Chemical characterization of surface snow in Istanbul (NW Turkey) and their association with atmospheric circulations.

The understanding of the impurities in natural snow is important in realizing its atmospheric quality, soil characteristics, and the pollution caused to the environment. Knowledge of the occurrence of major ions and trace metals in the snow in the megacity of Istanbul is very limited. This manuscript attempts to understand the origin of major soluble ions (fluoride, acetate, formate, chlorite, chloride, nitrite, chlorate, bromide, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, and perchlorate) and some trace metals (Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu) in winter surface snow, collected in Istanbul, Turkey. The sampling of the surface snow was conducted after each precipitation during the winter of 2015-2016 at three sites in the city. Besides the statistical evaluation of the major ions, and some trace metal concentrations, the chemical variations along with atmospheric circulations, which are important modification mechanisms that influence the concentrations, were investigated in the study. At examined locations and times, 12 major anions were investigated and in these anions fluoride, chlorite, chlorate, bromide, and perchlorate in the snow samples were below the detection limit; only SO42-, NO3-, and CI- were found to be in the range of 1.11-17.90, 0.75-4.52, and 0.19-3.01 mg/L. Also, according to the trace element determination, the concentration was found to be 29.2-53.7, 2.0-16.1, 1.0-2.2, 50.1-71.1, 24.2-35.2, ND-7.9, 43.2-106.6, and 3.0-17.7 µg/L for Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Cu, respectively. The major anions and investigated trace elements here originated mainly from anthropogenic and atmospheric circulation and mainly influenced by northerly and southerly circulation patterns. While the main limitations in the present study may be the low number of samples that may not be entirely representative, accurately reflect identification, or support other previously observed local measurements, we believe that the type of data presented in this study has the potential to be used in the field of environmental risk assessment and, as result, for human health.