Journal of Chromatography A, 970 (2002) 3–64 www.elsevier.com/locate/chroma Review R ecent advances in the application of mass spectrometry in food-related analysis M. Careri* , F. Bianchi, C. Corradini Dipartimento di Chimica Generale ed Inorganica, Chimica Analitica, Chimica Fisica, Universita` degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, 43100 Parma, Italy Abstract A review is presented on recent applications of mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques for the analysis of compounds of food concern. Substances discussed are naturally occurring compounds in food products such as lipids, oligosaccharides, proteins, vitamins, flavonoids and related substances, phenolic compounds and aroma compounds. Among xenobiotics, applications of MS techniques for the analysis of pesticides, drug residues, toxins, amines and migrants from packaging are overviewed. Advances in the analysis of trace metals of nutritional and toxicological interest by MS with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source are presented. The main features of mass spectrometry combined with separation instruments are discussed in food-related analysis. Examples of mass spectrometry and tandem MS (MS–MS) are provided. The development and application of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and electrospray (ESI) to the analysis of peptides and proteins in food is discussed. This survey will attempt to cover the state-of-the-art up from 1999 to 2001. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Reviews; Food analysis; Mass spectrometry; Lipids; Carbohydrates; Proteins; Vitamins; Flavonoids; Phenolic compounds; Pesticides; Drugs; Toxins; Amines; Aroma compounds Contents 1 . Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 2 . Natural substances in food ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 2 .1. Lipids ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5 2 .1.1. LC–MS and GC–MS .......................................................................................................................................... 6 2 .2. Peptides and proteins....................................................................................................................................................... 10 2 .2.1. MALDI-TOF-MS................................................................................................................................................ 10 2 .2.2. LC–MS.............................................................................................................................................................. 11 2 .3. Carbohydrates................................................................................................................................................................. 13 2 .3.1. MALDI-TOF-MS, FAB-MS, LC–MS and CE–MS ............................................................................................... 14 2 .3.2. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 17 2 .4. Vitamins ........................................................................................................................................................................ 19 2 .4.1. LC–MS.............................................................................................................................................................. 20 *Corresponding author. Tel.: 139-52-1905-418; fax: 139-52-1905-557. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Careri). 0021-9673/02/$ – see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0021-9673(02)00903-2 4 M. Careri et al. / J. Chromatogr. A 970 (2002) 3–64 2 .5. Antioxidants: flavonoids, phenolics and related compounds................................................................................................ 20 2 .5.1. MALDI-TOF-MS and LC–MS ............................................................................................................................ 21 2 .5.2. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 2 .6. Aroma compounds .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 2 .6.1. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 26 2 .6.2. Other MS techniques ........................................................................................................................................... 31 3 . Xenobiotic substances in food .................................................................................................................................................. 32 3 .1. Pesticides ....................................................................................................................................................................... 32 3 .1.1. LC–MS.............................................................................................................................................................. 33 3 .1.2. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 34 3 .2. Drug residues ................................................................................................................................................................. 38 3 .2.1. LC–MS.............................................................................................................................................................. 38 3 .2.2. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 44 3 .3. Toxins............................................................................................................................................................................ 44 3 .3.1. LC–MS.............................................................................................................................................................. 45 3 .3.2. GC–MS ............................................................................................................................................................. 47 3 .3.3. Other MS techniques ........................................................................................................................................... 48 3 .4. Miscellaneous natural and xenobiotic substances in food ................................................................................................... 48 3 .4.1. Amines and b-carbolines ..................................................................................................................................... 49 3 .4.1.1. LC–MS and GC–MS ........................................................................................................................... 51 3 .4.2. Migrants from packagings.................................................................................................................................... 51 3 .4.2.1. LC–MS and GC–MS ........................................................................................................................... 52 4 . Metals .................................................................................................................................................................................... 53 4 .1. ICP-MS.......................................................................................................................................................................... 54 4 .2. LC–ICP-MS................................................................................................................................................................... 56 5 . Other MS techniques for food quality screening ........................................................................................................................ 58 5 .1. Py-MS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 58 6 . Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................................ 58 7 . Nomenclature.......................................................................................................................................................................... 59 References .................................................................................................................................................................................. 60 1 . Introduction and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) [3] on quadrupole, magnetic sector or The importance of mass spectrometry (MS) to the time-of-flight (TOF) instruments, or coupled with future of food