RESUMO
Tomato sauce is a world famous food product. Despite standards regulating the production of tomato derivatives, the market suffers frpm fraud such as product adulteration, origin mislabelling and counterfeiting. Methods suitable to discriminate the geographical origin of food samples and identify counterfeits are required. Chemometric approaches offer valuable information: data on tomato sauce is usually obtained through chromatography (HPLC and GC) coupled to mass spectrometry, which requires chemical pretreatment and the use of organic solvents. In this paper, a faster, cheaper, and greener analytical procedure has been developed for the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the colloidal fraction via multivariate statistical analysis. Tomato sauce VOCs were analysed by GC coupled to flame ionisation (GC-FID) and to ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). Instead of using HPLC, the colloidal fraction was analysed by asymmetric flow field-fractionation (AF4), which was applied to this kind of sample for the first time. The GC and AF4 data showed promising perspectives in food-quality control: the AF4 method yielded comparable or better results than GC-IMS and offered complementary information. The ability to work in saline conditions with easy pretreatment and no chemical waste is a significant advantage compared to environmentally heavy techniques. The method presented here should therefore be taken into consideration when designing chemometric approaches which encompass a large number of samples.
Assuntos
Solanum lycopersicum , Compostos Orgânicos Voláteis , Quimiometria , Cromatografia Gasosa-Espectrometria de Massas/métodos , Análise de Componente Principal , Compostos Orgânicos Voláteis/análiseRESUMO
A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of four Alternaria toxins, i.e. alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, tentoxin, and tenuazonic acid in tomato-based and fruit-based products was developed using a QuEChERs approach for the extraction of the mycotoxins. To optimise the QuEChERs extraction, several parameters were tested: types of QuEChERs pouches, sample weights, quantities of added water, use of dispersive SPE as a purification step, types of solvent and conditions of shaking. The method showed good linearity (R2â¯>â¯0.997) and precision (RSD%â¯<â¯10) for all analytes. Tenuazonic acid showed very good recovery (98.8%-108.9%) for tomato-based products, as well as for fruit-based products. The method was successfully applied to 57 samples collected from the Italian market. Tenuazonic acid was found in appreciable concentrations in some products. The highest value was found in a tomato sauce sample (814⯵g/kg).
Assuntos
Alternaria/metabolismo , Cromatografia de Fase Reversa , Análise de Alimentos/métodos , Microbiologia de Alimentos/métodos , Frutas/microbiologia , Micotoxinas/análise , Solanum lycopersicum/microbiologia , Espectrometria de Massas por Ionização por Electrospray , Espectrometria de Massas em Tandem , Cromatografia de Fase Reversa/normas , Análise de Alimentos/normas , Microbiologia de Alimentos/normas , Lactonas/análise , Peptídeos Cíclicos/análise , Espectrometria de Massas por Ionização por Electrospray/normas , Espectrometria de Massas em Tandem/normas , Ácido Tenuazônico/análiseRESUMO
Acrylamide is a carcinogenic and neurotoxic process contaminant that is generated from food components during heat treatment, while it is absent in raw foodstuffs. Its level in food arouses great concern. A method for acrylamide extraction and determination in dried fruits (dried prunes and raisins) and edible seeds (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts) using a QuEChERS-LC-ESI-MS-Triple Quadrupole approach was set up. Linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of the method were satisfactory. Dried prunes and peanuts were the only samples appreciably contaminated, 14.7-124.3 and 10.0-42.9µg/kg, respectively, as a consequence of the drying process. In fact, prunes are dried at 70-80°C for a quite long time (24-36h), while peanuts undergo a roasting process at 160-180°C for 25-30min. The relative standard deviations, accuracy, LOD, and LOQ show that the method provides a reliable approach to acrylamide determination in different matrices.
Assuntos
Acrilamida/análise , Frutas/química , Nozes/química , Sementes/química , Arachis/química , Corylus/química , Dessecação , Análise de Alimentos , Manipulação de Alimentos , Pistacia/química , Prunus/química , Vitis/químicaRESUMO
Combustion processes commonly create fine and ultrafine particles whose effects are often harmful to human health. The present study is aimed at providing more data in this field by testing the capability of environmental electron scanning microscopy of detecting and analyzing such particles. For this purpose, we examined a range of samples taken from everyday food items collected in Tuscany. The results showed that, within the examined samples, inorganic particles can be observed in the nano- and micrometer range. These particles are attributable mostly to natural processes and, in part, to food processing. Little evidence is found for particles whose origin could be attributed to industrial combustion processes, such as waste incineration.