Shimadzu Analysis Guidebook Food Product Analyses

Importance of Integrated Analytical Techniques for Food Product Analysis

Modern food safety and quality control depend on accurate, efficient, and high-throughput analytical methods. Comprehensive screening for nutrients, contaminants, additives, and flavor compounds safeguards public health, supports regulatory compliance, and drives innovation in food formulation.

Study Objectives and Guidebook Overview

This Shimadzu guidebook presents over 150 case studies demonstrating cutting-edge analytical workflows for food products. It is organized into major application areas:

• Food components: fatty acids, vitamins, amino acids, polyphenols, and natural pigments by GC, LC, MS, FTIR, UV-Vis.
• Food additives and preservatives: benzoates, antioxidants, sweeteners, cyclodextrins, organic acids.
• Aromas and odors: volatile profiling by GC/MS, thermal desorption, headspace, and MonoTrap technologies.
• Residual pesticides and toxins: QuEChERS, GC/MS/MS, LC/MS/MS screening techniques.
• Inorganic metals: atomic absorption, ICP for heavy metals in foods and supplements.
• Contaminant identification: FTIR, EDX, EPMA, MALDI-MS for foreign matter.
• Food properties: texture analysis, particle sizing, thermal analysis of chocolate, starch, meats.

Methodology and Instrumentation

The guidebook highlights method development and validation for matrix-rich food samples using:

• Gas chromatography (GC, GC×GC, GC/MS, GC/MS/MS) with split/splitless, headspace, thermal desorption (OPTIC-4), and cold-trapping.
• Liquid chromatography (HPLC, UHPLC, UFLC, HILIC, ion exclusion, post-column derivatization) coupled with UV-Vis, PDA, fluorescence detectors, evaporative light scattering (ELSD-LT), and triple-quadrupole MS (LC/MS/MS).
• Vibrational spectroscopy (FTIR, ATR, NIR) for rapid screening of fats, trans-fatty acids, and contaminant identification.
• Atomic spectrometry (AAS, EDX, ICP-OES/MS) for trace minerals and heavy metals.
• Thermal and texture analyzers (DSC, TA, texture meters) for physical property measurement.

Main Findings and Discussion

Key outcomes demonstrate that advanced Shimadzu systems enable:

• Ultra-fast separations: sub-minute LC analysis of artificial colors and GC profiling of volatiles.
• High sensitivity: GC/MS and LC/MS/MS detection at low ppb–ppt levels for toxins, pesticides, and trace additives.
• Improved matrix suppression: selective derivatization, tandem MS, and high-resolution columns for complex foods.
• Lab productivity gains: automated pre-column derivatization (SIL-30AC), backflush GC, overlapping injections, and rapid headspace sampling.

Benefits and Practical Applications

These methodologies support:

• Quality assurance in food manufacturing (nutrient labeling, shelf-life testing).
• Compliance testing for regulatory limits (additives, contaminants, pesticides).
• R&D of functional foods (bioactive component quantitation, flavor optimization).
• Forensic and authenticity testing (adulteration, origin tracing).

Future Trends and Opportunities

Emerging directions include integration of automated sample prep, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS), data processing with chemometrics and machine learning for pattern recognition, and on-line coupling of multiple separation dimensions (GC×GC-LC). Portable and miniaturized spectroscopy and sensor technologies will enable in-field testing and continuous monitoring for quality and safety.

Conclusion

Shimadzu’s comprehensive portfolio of advanced chromatography, spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry systems empowers food analysts to perform rapid, sensitive, and multi-analyte screening across diverse matrices. Adoption of these high-throughput methods enhances laboratory efficiency, ensures regulatory compliance, and drives product innovation.

Instrument Platform Highlights

Major instruments employed across cases include:

• GCMS-TQ8030, GCMS-QP2010 Ultra: high-speed triple quadrupole GC/MS/MS.
• GCMS-QP2010 Plus, GC-2010 Plus: routine GC/MS screening.
• LCMS-2020, Nexera LC-MS Systems: high-sensitivity LC/MS/MS in food matrices.
• Prominence UFLC/XR-UHPLC, Nexera: sub-minute separations with high-resolution columns.
• IRPrestige-21, FTIR/ATR/NIR: rapid spectroscopy for lipids, foreign matter.
• AA/ICP-OES/MS, EDX: elemental analysis of trace metals.
• RF-20AXS, ELSD-LT: multi-mode detection for non-UV-active analytes.

References

• Shimadzu Corporation. Food Product Analyses, C180-E059C, 2021.
• Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Food Additive Standards and Analytical Methods.
• AOCS Official Methods for fats and fatty acids analysis.