Best of the Week: Sustainable RP-HPLC, USP Policy Updates

This week, LCGC International published a variety of articles on the hottest topics in chromatography. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles, according to our readers. Happy reading!

An Integrative Analytical Quality by Design (AQbD), Up-To-Date Greenness, and Whiteness Set of Tools for Evaluation of a Sustainable RP-HPLC Method for Regulated Products

Jerome Workman Jr.

Within the context of developing chromatographic analytical methods, the concept of sustainability refers to designing methods that minimize the environmental impact while maintaining high efficiency and effectiveness in separation and analysis processes. This involves several considerations including reducing usage volume of solvents, energy efficiency, waste reduction, Green chemistry principles, and overall life cycle assessment for sustainability of the entire analytical measurement and equipment process. In this interview, we asked Hemanth Kumar Chanduluru from the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Kattankulathur, India, multiple questions regarding sustainability in analytical separation methods.

Are You Sure You Understand USP <621>?

Paul Smith, R.D. McDowall

Chromatographic analysis in regulated Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) laboratories is under the control of pharmacopoeial general chapters. These should define the qualification parameters for instrumentation and System Suitability Test (SST) parameters to demonstrate the analytical system is under control. The changes are a result of the harmonization process between USP, Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP) and European Pharmacopoeia (Eur. Ph.). The harmonized USP <621> became official in December 2022; however, a few subsections of the SST section were delayed and will become official in May 2025. In this column, we look at the current version and the update of USP <621> on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) that becomes effective 1st May 2025. Do you fully understand the changes and how they will impact your laboratory?

Characterizing Cooked Cheese Flavor with Gas Chromatography

John Chasse

An important commodity for the food industry. cheese is a key ingredient in many cooked dishes, such as toppings to bread, pasta, and pizza, and in melted forms like fondue. The aroma of uncooked cheese has been studied extensively and has been described as a balance between the concentrations of a wide variety of volatile compounds. A joint study by the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading (United Kingdom) and Synergy Flavours (High Wycombe, UK) aimed to identify volatiles that contribute to the aroma of cooked cheese, including the role of fat content in their development during cooking. Volatiles and odorants in cooked mature cheddar were identified using a combination of solid-phase microextraction (SPME)/gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and SPME/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Quantification of Amino Acids in Sweat Samples with HPLC

John Chasse

The measurement of metabolites in biological samples other than blood has gained increasing significance due to the rising demand for non-invasive analytical methods, with sweat, saliva, and tears emerging as particularly relevant sources for such analyses, with sweat especially notable as a biofluid allowing for non-invasive, continuous, and real-time health monitoring. While composed of about 99% water, sweat also contains essential ions like chloride, sodium, and potassium, along with smaller amounts of calcium, magnesium, lactate, and other minor electrolytes. Sweat also contains trace amounts of various substances which can offer valuable insights into the status of a person's health, thus making its analysis crucial in non-invasive health monitoring. Recently, scientists investigated the significance of quantifying amino acids in minute sweat volumes using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, offering a non-invasive and efficient way to screen for diseases by detecting amino acids in sweat, even with minimal sweat volumes. This approach could also be used to analyze other biomolecules in sweat, expanding its potential applications.

HILIC-Based Breakthroughs for Glycopeptides and Glycans

Aaron Acevedo

A glycan is a compound that consists of several monosaccharides, either in free form or attached to a different substance. Living systems rely on these substances, alongside glycoRNAs and glycolipids for crucial functions in different biochemical processes. Glycans also play a role in forming the extracellular matrix, which is vital for cell growth, differentiation, and maintaining tissue structure. The variety of glycan structures and their differential expression across different cell types and tissues provides basis for cell identification and communication. Recently, Soochow University scientists reviewed hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) breakthroughs in relation to glycopeptide enrichment and glycan separation.