Fingerprint analysis of biological samples using ICP-MS and IR-MS

Atomic spectroscopy based analytical techniques can generate fingerprints encompassing the vast majority of elements found in the periodic table as well as ratios of their stable isotopes. These highly multivariate fingerprints have laid the foundation of many recent studies within environmental, geological, agricultural and food science. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) still dominate multi-elemental analyses of biological samples while stable isotopes of the light mass elements H, C, N, O and S are measured by isotope ratio-mass spectrometry (IR-MS). However, it has recently been shown that rather unexplored analytical methods such as semi-quantitative ICP-MS and compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) can generate novel information suitable for evaluating the authenticity of plant based food products (1-3). Most plant based studies using atomic spectroscopy have focused on the essential nutrients: B, Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo and selected heavy metals such as Cd and Pb (4). However, plants contain traces of most of the periodic table, which can be measured by semi-quantitative ICP-MS (1-2). This represents a fast method for elemental fingerprinting in the mass range 7Li to 238U, but the accuracy suffers from the simplified calibration procedure that this technique is based on. The combination of semi-quantitative ICP-MS and multivariate statistics (chemometrics) efficiently minimize this problem and constitute a promising tool for authentication of plant products according to their geographical origin and production form (2). Stable isotope analysis complements elemental fingerprinting by targeting specific biological processes and their impact on the isotopic plant composition. This has recently proven valuable for authenticating organically grown plant products – especially when focusing on selected isotope pairs in plant derived compounds such as 18O/16O in NO3- using CSIA (3). Cases of novel atomic spectroscopy based food authentications will be presented at the conference

Dopingkontrol af økologiske planter med isotoper

Dopingkontrol af økologiske planter med isotoper

På sporet af det økologiske fingeraftryk

På sporet af det økologiske fingeraftryk

Optimale afgrøder og sorter til plantebaserede fødevarer – hvor er vi i dag?

Ernæringsindhold og kvalitet i sorter af korn og bælgsæd: Efterspørgslen på plantebaserede fødevarer er i vækst, og der arbejdes intenst på at finde de sorter, der kvalitets- og ernæringsmæssigt er de mest velegnede. Vi præsenterer resultater fra to projekter om afgrøder - eksempelvis ærter, hestebønner og havre - til plantebaserede fødevarer. Få inspiration til nye afgrøder, der efterspørges og kan gro på dine marker

Plants what Plants? Sustainable and healthy protein crops

Presentation of research group mission, project aim and background problem at the World Food Summit conference

High quality crops for plant based diets

Presentation of Peas and Love project and relevant factors on high-quality crops and plant based diets at Plant Link Day conference

Økologien sætter fingeraftryk

Økologien sætter fingeraftry

Faglige nuancer efterlyses

Faglige nuancer efterlyse

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-RESIDUE METHODS FOR PESTICIDE SCREENING IN ORGANIC FOOD SAMPLES

There is an ever-increasing demand for foods of local origin or cultivated using organic practices. However, the sector is becoming dominated by corporate players that might not strictly fulfill all the requirements of organic farming, with or without fraud intentions. This places an increased burden on certification bodies and traceability systems on which the authenticity of the organic products depends. Thus, to ensure the authenticity of foods marketed and labelled as organic, there is a need for robust, accurate and validated control methods. The objective of the AuthenticFood project is to combine novel analytical techniques to improve the reliability of organic authentication. In this framework, the present work describes the development of analytical methods for the determination of pesticides in food products. The main challenge of this study was to reach the highest sensitivity allowing the detection of very low contaminations, especially for organic products, while keeping a wide range of target molecules. Hence, a priority list of pesticides has been established, based on scientific literature and reports from food agencies, with a special focus on organic foodstuff. On the basis of this list of target pesticides, three complementary analytical methods were developed using Triple-Quadrupole LC-MS/MS (positive and negative modes) and GC-MS/MS. In addition, an extraction protocol, based on the QuEChERS method, has been optimized considering the matrices and pesticides of interest. The final methods allow the detection of ca 150 pesticides at the ppt level and have been applied on a series of organic and conventional food samples