Home Asia Pacific Asia Pacific: SCIEX launches technology to analyze food samples

Asia Pacific: SCIEX launches technology to analyze food samples

SCIEX launches the SWATH data independent acquisition technology called MS/MSALL that allows the simultaneous and comprehensive identification and quantification of virtually every detectable compound in a sample, from one analysis.

SWATH Acquisition has unique capabilities for quantitative accuracy, offering exceptionally high reproducibility across multiple samples with wide dynamic range.

It creates a permanent digital record of quantitative MS/MS (tandem mass spectrometry) data for the entire sample.

Following the successful implementation of SWATH for proteomics research, this technology is widely used today in the industrialization of proteomics research and can now bring significant advantages for analytical scientists in other fields, including forensics, food testing, environmental analysis, and biologics.

The transition from traditional proteomics workflows to the SCIEX patented SWATH Acquisition has transformed proteomics experiments, allowing all data to be robustly captured across very large sample cohorts to enable industrialized proteomics and precision medicine approaches.

The SCIEX TripleTOF system technology can acquire high resolution MS/MS spectra at high acquisition rates, making it the only mass spectrometer on which SWATH Acquisition can be routinely performed.

For example, food testing laboratories survey ingredients and food products for quality and safety.

Pesticide residues in certain foods such as baby food are required to be as low as under 10 µg/kg, and foods such as fruits or vegetables often exhibit a high number of active components and can be difficult to analyze.

When using traditional LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry) approaches to analyze complex matrices such as foods, there is a risk of missing the identification of an important low level residue.

SWATH Acquisition allows scientists to completely survey samples for every detectable chemical contaminant present while also ensuring rapid, reliable detection of low abundance compounds that are usually masked by dominant compounds in a sample.

Laboratories investigating water quality carry out rigorous treatment and testing procedures to identify a variety of chemical hazards.

The difficulty with water analysis is that substances can be present at exceptionally low concentrations, in the range of low nanograms per liter, and a single sample may contain hundreds of contaminants.

SWATH technology collects ultra-high quality MS and MS/MS on all detectable peaks to provide rapid and reliable identification and quantification of compounds in samples.

“As environmental chemists, we are always trying to find new compounds of concern, whether in drinking water, stormwater, or biota,” said Christopher Higgins, associate professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines.

“SWATH looks to provide us an opportunity to collect and archive data, thereby allowing us to re-examine old data without reacquisition.”

“This is an important advantage in environmental monitoring where samples are often limited.”

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