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New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Food Contaminants

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Analytical Methods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2021) | Viewed by 16885

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Elena González-Peñas

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Universidad de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: instrumental analysis; liquid chromatography; gas chromatography; mycotoxins; food; validation analytical methods; drug stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Collegaues,

Contamination of foods by undesirable compounds should be strictly controlled because of its possible effects on human and animal health and on global economy. However, food analysis is a great challenge for analysts due to the wide variety of foods, their very different compositions, and the different physicochemical characteristics of potential contaminants. Moreover, the most likely scenario is that several contaminants co-occur in the same food matrix. For these reasons, pre-treatment of food samples should generally be performed before carrying out the analysis. New sample preparation procedures are needed, as well as a revision of widely used processes in order to adapt them to the new characteristics of chromatographic analysis. These procedures should be reproducible, cost-effective and miniaturized, with diminished matrix effects, reduced use of organic solvents and minimal environmental impact. This Special Issue will comprise research articles and reviews related to these new trends in sample preparation for the determination of contaminants in food. Manuscripts devoted to procedures that are able to determine various analytes simultaneously are especially welcome.

Prof. Elena González-Peñas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Sample preparation
Foods
Contaminants

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 16926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Optimal Digesting Conditions for Microplastic Analysis in Dried Seaweed Gracilaria fisheri

by Rizky Prihandari, Weeraya Karnpanit, Suwapat Kittibunchakul and Varongsiri Kemsawasd

Foods 2021, 10(9), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10092118 - 08 Sep 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3871

Abstract

Currently, research on the accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in the marine food web is being highlighted. An accurate and reliable digestion method to extract and isolate MPs from complex food matrices has seldom been validated. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of MP isolation among enzymatic-, oxidative-, and the combination of two digestion methods on red seaweed, Gracilaria fisheri. The dried seaweed sample was digested using three different methods under various conditions using enzymes (cellulase and protease), 30% H₂O₂, and a combination of enzymes and 30% H₂O₂. The method possessing the best digestion efficiency and polymer recovery rate of MPs was selected, and its effect on spiked plastic polymer integrity was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. As a result, the enzymatic method rendered moderate digestion efficiency (59.3–63.7%) and high polymer recovery rate (94.7–98.9%). The oxidative method using 30% H₂O₂ showed high digestion efficiency (93.0–96.3%) and high polymer recovery rate (>98%). The combination method was the most effective method in terms of digestion efficiency, polymer recovery rate, and expenditure of digestion time. The method also showed no chemical changes in the spiked plastic polymers (PE, PP, PS, PVC, and PET) after the digestion process. All the spiked plastic polymers were identifiable using Raman spectroscopy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Food Contaminants)

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20 pages, 2157 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sulfonic Acid-Functionalized SBA-15 as Strong Cation-Exchange Sorbent for Solid-Phase Extraction of Atropine and Scopolamine in Gluten-Free Grains and Flours

by Lorena González-Gómez, Judith Gañán, Sonia Morante-Zarcero, Damián Pérez-Quintanilla and Isabel Sierra

Foods 2020, 9(12), 1854; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9121854 - 12 Dec 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3634

Abstract

A novel method was developed and applied to the determination of the most representative tropane alkaloids (TAs), atropine and scopolamine, in gluten-free (GF) grains and flours by HPLC-MS/MS. Accordingly a suitable sample treatment procedure based on solid-liquid extraction (SLE) and followed by strong cation-exchange solid-phase extraction (SCX-SPE) was optimized. SBA-15 mesostructured silica functionalized with sulfonic acids was evaluated as sorbent. The proposed method was fully validated in sorghum flour showing good accuracy with recoveries in the range of 93–105%, good linearity (R² > 0.999) and adequate precision (RSD < 20%). Low method quantification limits (MQL) were obtained (1.5 and 2.4 µg/kg for atropine and scopolamine, respectively) and no matrix effect was observed thanks to the extraction and clean-up protocol applied. The method was applied to 15 types of GF samples of pseudocereals (buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth), cereals (teff, corn and blue corn, sorghum and millet) and legumes (red and green lentil, chickpea and pea). Atropine was found above the MQL in eight of them, with values between 7 and 78 µg/kg, while scopolamine was only found in teff flour, its concentration being 28 µg/kg. The method developed is an interesting tool for determining TAs in a variety of samples of GF grains and flours. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Food Contaminants)

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Review

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25 pages, 369 KiB

Open AccessReview

Comprehensive Strategy for Sample Preparation for the Analysis of Food Contaminants and Residues by GC–MS/MS: A Review of Recent Research Trends

by Meng-Lei Xu, Yu Gao, Xiao Wang, Xiao Xia Han and Bing Zhao

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2473; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102473 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4254

Abstract

Food safety and quality have been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS), a highly sensitive technique, is gradually being preferred to GC–MS in food safety laboratories since it provides a greater degree of separation on contaminants. In the analysis of food contaminants, sample preparation steps are crucial. The extraction of multiple target analytes simultaneously has become a new trend. Thus, multi-residue analytical methods, such as QuEChERs and adsorption extraction, are fast, simple, cheap, effective, robust, and safe. The number of microorganic contaminants has been increasing worldwide in recent years and are considered contaminants of emerging concern. High separation in MS/MS might be, in certain cases, favored to sample preparation selectivity. The ideal sample extraction procedure and purification method should take into account the contaminants of interest. Moreover, these methods should cooperate with high-resolution MS, and other sensitive full scan MSs that can produce a more comprehensive detection of contaminants in foods. In this review, we discuss the most recent trends in preparation methods for highly effective detection and analysis of food contaminants, which can be considered tools in the control of food quality and safety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Food Contaminants)

26 pages, 3547 KiB

Open AccessReview

Synthesis of Magnetic Metal-Organic Frame Material and Its Application in Food Sample Preparation

by Jingying Yang, Yabin Wang, Mingfei Pan, Xiaoqian Xie, Kaixin Liu, Liping Hong and Shuo Wang

Foods 2020, 9(11), 1610; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111610 - 06 Nov 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4235

Abstract

A variety of contaminants in food is an important aspect affecting food safety. Due to the presence of its trace amounts and the complexity of food matrix, it is very difficult to effectively separate and accurately detect them. The magnetic metal-organic framework (MMOF) composites with different structures and functions provide a new choice for the purification of food matrix and enrichment of trace targets, thus providing a new direction for the development of new technologies in food safety detection with high sensitivity and efficiency. The MOF materials composed of inorganic subunits and organic ligands have the advantages of regular pore structure, large specific surface area and good stability, which have been thoroughly studied in the pretreatment of complex food samples. MMOF materials combined different MOF materials with various magnetic nanoparticles, adding magnetic characteristics to the advantages of MOF materials, which are in terms of material selectivity, biocompatibility, easy operation and repeatability. Combined with solid phase extraction (SPE) technique, MMOF materials have been widely used in the food pretreatment. This article introduced the new preparation strategies of different MMOF materials, systematically summarizes their applications as SPE adsorbents in the pretreatment of food contaminants and analyzes and prospects their future application prospects and development directions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Food Contaminants)

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