Shimadzu Analysis Guidebook Food Product Analyses

Significance of the Topic

Food composition analysis underpins quality control, safety and nutritional evaluation across life sciences and the food industry. Accurate, sensitive, and high-throughput methods are essential for detecting trace components—from fatty acids and vitamins to contaminants and additives—in complex food matrices.

Study Aims and Overview

This collection of application notes illustrates advanced analytical approaches for a wide array of food components. It covers: GC/MS and GC/MS/MS for fatty acids and preservatives; FTIR for trans-fat quantitation; LC/MS/MS for 3-MCPD esters; UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy for milk fat; LC for organic acids, amino acids, vitamins and contaminants; and various chromatographic methods for carotenoids, curcuminoids, aroma compounds and more.

Methodology and Instrumentation

• GC/MS and GC/MS/MS: Shimadzu GCMS-TQ8030, GCMS-QP2010 Ultra with EI/PCI ionization for fatty acids and phenolic antioxidants.
• FTIR: IRPrestige-21 with MIRacle A ATR accessory for trans-fat content via single-reflection ATR and transmission modes.
• LC/MS/MS: Shim-pack XR-ODS columns on Nexera HPLC coupled to LCMS-2020 or LCMS-8030 for 3-MCPD esters and water-soluble vitamins.
• UV-Vis-NIR Spectroscopy: UV-3600 spectrophotometer with integrating sphere for rapid milk fat reflectance analysis combined with multivariate regression.
• UHPLC and Fast LC: Prominence UFLC XR, Nexera SR, Phenomenex Kinetex and HALO columns for high-speed separation of amino acids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, aroma volatiles and artificial colorings.
• Automated Derivatization: SIL-30AC autosampler for OPA/FMOC amino acid pre-column derivatization and RF-20Axs fluorescence detection.
• ELSD and RID: ELSD-LT for sugars, sugar alcohols and cyclodextrins on amino/NH2 columns; RID alternatives for polyols.

Main Results and Discussion

• GC/MS/MS PCI-MRM offers highest sensitivity and selectivity for unsaturated fatty acid analysis, outperforming EI modes.
• GC×GC/MS dramatically resolves complex lipid isomers in butter with Folch extraction.
• FTIR ATR and transmission methods yield excellent calibration (R2>0.9999) for trans-fat quantitation in oils and milk.
• LC/MS/MS allows direct quantitation of 3-MCPD diesters in palm oil following simple dilution, achieving low-μg/L detection.
• UV-Vis-NIR reflectance combined with support vector regression predicts milk fat content non-destructively with errors <7%.
• LC and GC methods enable high-speed analysis of organic acids, amino acids, vitamins, carotenes, phenolics, curcuminoids and aroma volatiles in under minutes.
• Automated pre-column derivatization via SIL-30AC enhances reproducibility (RSD<1%) for 22 amino acids and 26 analytes in beverages.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Sub-five-minute methods increase throughput in QC/QA labs and research settings.
• Minimal sample pretreatment (simple dilution, filtration) streamlines workflows.
• Automated derivatization and backflush functions reduce labor and extend column lifetime.
• Combination of UHPLC, Fast-GC and sensitive detectors meets demands for trace-level analysis in food safety and labeling.

Future Trends and Opportunities

• Wider implementation of multimode injection and sorbent traps (MonoTrap) for direct headspace and beverage analysis.
• Integration of AI-driven chemometrics with spectral and chromatographic data to predict quality attributes.
• Expansion of UHPLC-MS/MS multiplex assays for comprehensive contaminant and nutraceutical profiling.
• Development of portable IR/UV-Vis-NIR and miniaturized MS platforms for on-site food inspection.

Conclusion

The presented methods demonstrate that modern chromatographic, spectroscopic, and mass spectrometric techniques can achieve rapid, sensitive, and reliable analysis of diverse food components. By combining high-speed separation with selective detection and streamlined sample preparation, laboratories can better ensure food quality, safety, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Reference

Shimadzu Corporation. Food Product Analyses, C180-E059C. Shimadzu Analysis Guidebook.