The Column-09-12-2017

Click the title above to open The Column September 12, 2017 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 13, Number 13, in an interactive PDF format.

Incognito wonders where we are, where we have been, and where we are going digitally in the analytical laboratory.

Peak Scientific has announced a new partnership with SEKO logistics intended to optimize its supply chains across the Chinese and U.S. markets.

Researchers from the Japanese Institute of Neuroscience have identified differences in the low-molecular-weight metabolite profiles of the brains of schizophrenia patients using CE–TOF-MS.

Researchers from the University of Torino have developed a novel HPLC–HRMS application for evaluating cosmetic ingredient composition. The application was used to analyze and compare sturgeon eggs, commonly known as caviar, and brill eggs, and their use in beauty creams as lipid sources.

Food carbohydrate content is routinely analyzed to ensure food quality and taste. Over the years many analytical techniques, including thin-layer chromatography (TLC), enzymatic analysis, and gas liquid chromatography (GLC), have been developed that allow qualitative and quantitative analysis of sugars, organic acids, and alcohol in food. Amongst these, ion‑moderated partitioning high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has emerged as a very valuable tool and has been used in thousands of published studies. This article describes the various considerations for selecting and optimizing the use of ion-moderated partitioning HPLC analytical columns for carbohydrate analysis in various types of food samples.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is routinely used for chemical and biochemical analysis methods, and recently the technique has been implemented on microchips. R. Scott Martin, a professor and chair of chemistry at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, has been investigating ways to improve these techniques for years. He recently spoke to us about his research coupling microchip electrophoresis with electrochemical detection, coupling continuous flow with microchip electrophoresis with valving, coupling microchip CE with microdialysis sampling and electrochemistry, and more.

The growing popularity of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), thanks in part to its presumed health benefits, has resulted in an increased incidence of product adulteration to achieve higher financial gains. This adulteration, through dilution with less expensive oils, has created demand for product authenticity testing. Olive oil testing based on traditional methods is slow, labour-intensive, and requires large amounts of organic solvents. This article reviews the challenges in the accurate analysis of olive oil and discusses new methods that can improve this testing.

The ability to rapidly screen stationary phases through column-switching capabilities provides significantly greater efficiency in method development than was previously possible. The approach does require some additional hardware and software. And, while such capabilities may limit the ability to expand one’s literary knowledge during excessive months in the laboratory developing separation methods, real progress to key decision points for method optimization can be realized instead.

Click the title above to open The Column September 12, 2017 North American issue, Volume 13, Number 13, in an interactive PDF format.