Automated Workflow Solutions for GC and GC-MS

Helping laboratories achieve reliable, high-throughput GC-MS analysis of pesticides, the automated cartridge-based micro Solid Phase Extraction (µSPE) Clean-up Tool for QuEChERS extracts is available for the TriPlus RSH and TriPlus RSH SMART Autosamplers. This tool offers a fully automated on-line approach for clean-up of QuEChERS extracts and replaces the manual dispersive SPE procedure. Suitable for a wide variety of food matrices, even those with high lipid content, the µSPE tool offers a unified method for GC-MS analysis of hundreds of pesticides and organic contaminants. Using a miniaturized cartridge, this tool also reduces sample volume and solvent usage.

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Monochloropropane-1,2-diols (MCPD), such as 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl fatty acid esters, are the most common of the chemical food contaminants known as chloropropanols. They can be found in edible oils, where they are generated at high temperatures during refining processes, resulting in a contaminated product.

Automated workflow solutions for MCPDe sample prep enable simplified determination of these contaminants. The automated sample prep workflow uses the TriPlus RSH SMART Autosampler in combination with Thermo Scientific SureSTART GOLD-Grade Glass Vials and magnetic caps for vial transportation. We offer methods that will meet both your current needs and your future requirements.

The determination of semivolatile organic contaminants, such as pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, and OCBs in water-based matrices, is often based on liquid-liquid extractions (LLEs) combined with concentration by evaporating the organic solvent followed by analysis with capillary gas chromatography.

Automating the liquid-liquid extraction workflow minimizes cost and effort by reducing sample and solvent consumption. Combining automated in-vial LLE with large-volume injection and a highly sensitive GC-MS/MS system enables the detection of different classes of contaminants at ultra-low levels on a single analytical system. This automated workflow reduces sample handling time and improves laboratory safety by requiring less handling of samples and solvents.

Fatty acid analysis is common in many industries, but particularly in the food industry. These analyses provide critical information on the nutritional properties of fatty foods, as well as the quality and trading value of vegetable oils. Although gas chromatography is the predominant technique used to analyze fatty acids, GC analysis requires transforming the fatty acids into more volatile, nonpolar derivatives. One way this is commonly done is to convert the fatty acids in the corresponding methyl esters (FAMEs) to ensure compatibility and improved separation with gas chromatography. It is a two-step process involving the saponification of the triglycerides followed by esterification of the free fatty acids.  Automating the entire workflow reduces the human exposure to hazardous chemicals, reduces solvent consumption and increases sample throughput while offering high precision, better recoveries, and more accurate calibration than manual procedures.