Specific and Selective Detection for Food and Beverage Analysis by Ion Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Detection

Analysis of food and beverage samples can present challenges given the requirement for low-level detection, often in complex matrices. General IC detectors may not be routinely capable of achieving the desired detection levels, samples may be in high-level matrices, and target analytes may coelute with other compounds. Since general detectors rely on identification by retention time alone, they may not be adequate or acceptable in these cases. Confirmation by alternate methods could more than double analysis time, and differentiation between coeluting compounds can make detection and quantitation difficult or impossible. Mass spectrometry (MS) detection can help address these challenges. With samples of known analytes, selected ion monitoring (SIM) can significantly reduce detection levels and differentiate between coeluting analytes contained in high-matrix samples. However, many food and beverage samples analyzed by IC are of low molecular weight, requiring that MS be capable of efficient, low-mass detection. For most methods, the supplementary detection at the sample’s mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) provides additional specificity for reliability in identification.