Methodology of chemometric modeling of spectrometric signals in the analysis of complex samples

A generalized algorithm of the multivariate simulation of spectrometric data is considered for solving typical analytical problems, like the determination of the concentration of a particular analyte and the assignment of a sample to one of predefined classes. In particular, we considered preliminary data processing, exploratory analysis, optimization of a chemometric model, calculation of performance characteristics, transfer of the model to other spectrometers, and automation of chemometric processing for the routine analysis of samples. To illustrate the potential of the method, we selected a system of bovine and porcine heparin, mixtures of soy and sunflower lecithin, and a set of red and white wine samples as test samples. Partial least squares and discriminant analysis were used as chemometric methods. We used proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) to record signals. Using the MATLAB environment, chemometric programs were developed for automated data processing in the context of problems under consideration and for the transfer of multivariate models to other spectrometers. Based on the results obtained, a methodology is proposed for the multivariate analysis of spectrometric data, which can be used in the analysis of various types of matrices and spectrometric signals.     

Determination of beta-carbolines in foodstuffs by high-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method combined with fluorimetric detection is described for the determination of beta-carboline (norharman) and 1-methyl-beta-carboline (harman). The analysis of foodstuffs for the identification of beta-carbolines is facilitated by clean-up samples using Bond Elut PRS cartridges. Recoveries were excellent. Further, a high-performance liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method was also developed for their identification. The concentration of beta-carboline among the foodstuffs and alcoholic beverages varied greatly. Also, norharman and harman were observed in uncooked foodstuffs, whereas acetaldehyde was found in most fermented food. The toxicological implication of beta-carbolines in foodstuffs is discussed.     

Chemometric methods in NMR spectroscopic analysis of food products

The main achievements of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy in combination with different chemometric methods in the analysis of food products in the last 40 years are reviewed. The essence of chemometric methods used for the analysis and interpretation of NMR spectra is briefly described. Sample preparation for NMR-spectroscopic analysis is characterized. Methods for the mathematical treatment of NMR spectra (smoothing, Fourier transformation, bucketing, normalization, and selection of spectral ranges) are considered. Currently available methods for the suppression of the signals of macrocomponents, including those for the simultaneous suppression of several signals, are described. The results are illustrated based on examples of analysis of different classes of foodstuffs and beverages with the use of NMR spectroscopy and chemometric methods for classification and discrimination (geographical and botanical origin as well as validating checking the brand authenticity).     

Application of Chromatography and Spectrometry to the Authentication of Alcoholic Beverages

The use of gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and UV–VIS spectrophotometry for identifying the falsification of strong alcoholic beverages (vodka, gin, cognac, and whiskey) was considered. In the GC analysis of ethyl alcohol and vodkas based on it, the test alcohol was assigned to synthetic alcohol or to biochemically produced alcohol using a set of typical impurities, markers of the alcohol nature, which present in the test alcohol in a certain ratio and can be determined by GC or GC–MS analysis. The multicomponent analysis of cognacs and related liquors can reveal the replacement of cognac spirit with alcohol produced from nongrape raw materials, to determine whether the cognac spirit was in contact with oak wood and how long was the duration of its aging, and to detect the falsification of the age by adding certain ingredients. The limitations of chromatographic and spectrometric analytical techniques in the identification of adulterated alcoholic beverages was demonstrated. The validation criteria for testing the identification of alcoholic beverage components by chromatographic techniques received special attention.     

Sequential stir bar extraction,thermal desorption and retention time locked GC–MS for determination of pesticides in water

A method based on sequential stir bar sorptive extraction followed by automated thermal desorption–GC–MS for the determination of pesticides in underground and superficial water samples has been developed. Retention time locked GC–MS and deconvolution Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and Identification System software allows the use of pesticide databases for identification and quantification in routine applications. Quantitation limits and repetitivity using full scan mass spectrometric determination guarantee the applicability of the method, which enables considerable savings to be made in total analysis time, with data processing times of around 2 min/sample.     

Standardless multicomponent qNMR analysis of compounds with overlapped resonances based on the combination of ICA and PULCON

A fast and reliable nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method for quantitative analysis of targeted compounds with overlapped signals in complex mixtures has been established. The method is based on the combination of chemometric treatment for spectra deconvolution and the PULCON principle (pulse length based concentration determination) for quantification. Independent component analysis (ICA) (mutual information least dependent component analysis (MILCA) algorithm) was applied for spectra deconvolution in up to six component mixtures with known composition. The resolved matrices (independent components, ICs and ICA scores) were used for identification of analytes, calculating their relative concentrations and absolute integral intensity of selected resonances. The absolute analyte concentrations in multicomponent mixtures and authentic samples were then calculated using the PULCON principle. Instead of conventional application of absolute integral intensity in case of undisturbed signals, the multiplication of resolved IC absolute integral and its relative concentration in the mixture for each component was used. Correction factors that are required for quantification and are unique for each analyte were also estimated. The proposed method was applied for analysis of up to five components in lemon and orange juice samples with recoveries between 90% and 111%. The total duration of analysis is approximately 45 min including measurements, spectra decomposition and quantification. The results demonstrated that the proposed method is a promising tool for rapid simultaneous quantification of up to six components in case of spectral overlap and the absence of reference materials. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple strategy for determining ethanol in all types of alcoholic beverages based on its on-line liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform, using a flow injection system and Fourier transform infrared spectrometric detection in the mid-IR

In this work, a simple strategy for the determination of ethanol in all types of alcoholic beverages using Fourier transform infrared spectrometric detection has been developed. The methodological proposal includes the quantitative on-line liquid-liquid extraction of ethanol with chloroform, through a sandwich type cell equipped with a PTFE membrane, using a two-channel manifold; and direct measurement of the analyte in the organic phase, by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The quantification was carried out measuring the ethanol absorbance at 877 cm⁻¹_, corrected by means of a baseline established between 844 and 929 cm⁻¹. The procedure, which does not require any sample pretreatment (except for the simple degassing of beer and gassy wine samples, and a simple dilution of spirits with water), was applied to determine ethanol in different alcoholic beverages such as beers, wines and spirits. The results obtained highly agree with those obtained by a derivative FTIR spectrometric procedure, and by head space-gas chromatography with FID detection. The proposed method is simple, fast, precise and accurate. Moreover, it can be easily adapted to any infrared spectrometer equipped with a standard transmission IR cell, and provides attractive analytical features, which are comparable to, or better than those offered by other published methods. In consequence, it represents a valid alternative for the determination of ethanol in alcoholic beverages, and could be suitable for the routine control analysis.     

Application of factor analysis for resolving thermogravimetric-mass spectrometric analysis spectra

Factor Analysis was used for extracting information out of the mixture mass spectra recorded in a thermogravimetric-mass spectrometric analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and a special diagram, the contour variance diagram (ContVarDia), were used for performing the factor analysis. The method was applied for studying the thermal decomposition of Kraton 1107 copolymer. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) was used for identification of the pyrolysis products of Kraton 1107. The application of factor analysis resulted in the determination of the main thermal decomposition steps and the prediction of the mass spectrum corresponding to each step. Those mass spectra were either pure spectra corresponding to main evolved gases or average spectra corresponding to multiple gases evolved in one decomposition step. The advantages and the limitations of the chemometric approach were discussed.     

Processing of NMR,UV, and IR spectrometric data prior to chemometric simulation by independent component and principal component analysis

We consider methods for the mathematical preprocessing of signals in the spectrometric analysis of multicomponent mixtures using chemometric algorithms aimed at adjusting the baseline, experimental noise, and random shift of spectral bands. Practical examples of using simple mathematical operations (scaling, centering, derivatization) are given. The effectiveness of algorithms is illustrated by a wide range of spectroscopic signals (electronic absorption, IR, and NMR spectra) combined with chemometric methods of principal component analysis and independent component analysis.     

Reliable automatic protein identification from matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric peptide fingerprints

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry of protein samples from two-dimensional (2-D) gels in conjunction with protein sequence database searches is frequently used to identify proteins. Moreover, the automatic analysis of complete 2-D gels with hundreds and even thousands of protein spots ("proteome analysis") is possible, without human intervention, with the availability of highly accurate mass spectrometry instruments, and high-throughput facilities for preparation and handling of protein samples from 2-D gels. However, the lack of software for precise automatic analysis and annotation of mass spectra, as well as software for in-batch sequence database queries, is increasingly becoming a significant bottleneck for the proteomics work flow. In the present paper we outline an algorithm for reliable, accurate, and automatic evaluation of mass spectrometric data and database searches. We show here that simply selecting from the sequence database the protein that has the most matching fragment masses often leads to false-positive results. Reliable protein identification is dependent on several parameters: the accuracy of fragment mass determination, the number of masses submitted for query, the mass distribution of query masses, the number of masses matching between sample and database protein, the size of the sequence database, and the kind and number of modifications considered. Using these parameters, we derive a simple statistical estimation that can be used to calculate the probability of true-positive protein identification.     

FT-IR Spectrophotometric Analysis of Ascorbic Acid and Biotin and their Pharmaceutical Formulations

Abstract

Fourier transform–infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry was used for the rapid, direct measurement of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and biotin (vitamin H) in different pharmaceutical products. Conventional KBr spectra were compared for the best determination of active substances in drug preparations. The Beer–Lambert law and chemometric approaches were applied in data processing.     

Decision trees in selection of featured determined food quality

The determination of food quality, authenticity and the detection of adulterations are problems of increasing importance in food chemistry. Recently, chemometric classification techniques and pattern recognition analysis methods for wine and other alcoholic beverages have received great attention and have been largely used. Beer is a complex mixture of components: on one hand a volatile fraction, which is responsible for its aroma, and on the other hand, a non-volatile fraction or extract consisting of a great variety of substances with distinct characteristics. The aim of this study was to consider parameters which contribute to beer differentiation according to the quality grade. Chemical (e.g. pH, acidity, dry extract, alcohol content, CO(2) content) and sensory features (e.g. bitter taste, color) were determined in 70 beer samples and used as variables in decision tree techniques. This pattern recognition techniques applied to the dataset were able to extract information useful in obtaining a satisfactory classification of beer samples according to their quality grade. Feature selection procedures indicated which features are the most discriminating for classification.     

Extraction of methyl xanthines and their UHPLC–DAD determination in consumable beverages used in Eastern province of Saudi Arabia

Coffee and tea are the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. However, the consumer may be unaware of the exact amount of methyl xanthine (MX, i.e. caffeine [C], theobromine [TB] and theophylline [TH]) consumed, as most of the products do not list the proper amounts. This may lead to serious risks including cardiovascular, kidney and stimulant effects. The aim of the study was to determine the MX amount in ready-to-use beverages (coffee and tea) collected from various outlets in the city of Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Forty different samples of espresso, black coffee and red tea were collected. A fast, reliable and efficient UHPLC–DAD method was developed and validated for MX determination. Total lipids were extracted and fractionated in order to determine glycolipids, phospholipids and neutral lipids. The r² value for the method was 0.980–0.988 in a linearity range of 0.5–200 ppm. The range for MX (C [0.02–2.39 mg/ml], TB [0.00–0.10 mg/ml] and TH [0.00–0.004 mg/ml]) and total lipids was 1–5 g. The amount of glycolipids (3.1 g) was higher among the lipid fractions followed by phospholipids (1.8 g) and neutral lipids (0.25 g). In general, espresso beverages (20–30 ml) contained high amounts of MX whereas black coffee beverages contained high amount of lipids. Most of the beverages expressed C, TB, TH, lipids or their fractions; however, the product with high amounts of MX and lipids at the same time was espresso (brands Chemistry and Wogard). Although the MX and lipid levels in these beverages well below the allowed limits, care must still be taken, especially when using the beverages with high serving volumes (200–250 ml) or coffee prepared via the filter method i.e. black coffee, using a high temperature for a longer time.     

Determining the purity of samples from natural products by coupling HPLC and CCD spectrometry

Isolation and identification of natural products is a very important and active research field. However, establishing the purity of the samples during the isolation process is quite difficult, especially when the retention times are similar for two desired components in HPLC. Although some technologies, e.g. MS and NMR, offer effective ways of obtaining purity information about the samples, the expensive instrumentation required or the off-line nature of coupling (generally speaking) make purity analysis somewhat inconvenient. In this paper, an on-line analytical system coupling HPLC and a CCD spectrometer for determination of purity for each eluate was developed in a thin layer spectrometric cell. The effectiveness of the system was demonstrated by differentiating Tanshinone I, Tanshinone IIA, and their mixture. The time-resolved UV-Vis spectra promptly revealed significant differences between the three samples while conventional single wavelength detection (CSWLD) could not. The system was then used to distinguish two steroid compounds which behaved as a single component in CSWLD. The compounds were isolated from a Chinese marine invertebrate animal, a marine annelid, Arenicola cristata, referred to here as Stimpson. The method reported here provided an efficient, convenient, fast, and inexpensive approach holding promise for on-line determination of the purity of samples isolated from natural products.     

VIZR—an automated chemometric technique for metabolic profiling

A chemometric technique, visual interpretation of z-score ratios (VIZR), written in the open source code R, has been developed to identify metabolic differences between individual biosamples and a control group. To demonstrate the capabilities of VIZR, 49 urine samples were collected from healthy volunteers: 41 samples were collected randomly following a normal dietary routine and 7 test samples were collected after dietary supplementation with either ibuprofen or alcoholic beverages. An eighth test sample was prepared by 50 % dilution of a control sample. Sample analysis was conducted by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and the collected data were subjected to VIZR analysis, which successfully discriminated each of the 8 test samples from the 41 control samples. In addition, VIZR analysis revealed the NMR spectral regions responsible for the disparity between the individual test samples and the control group. The self-normalizing nature of the VIZR calculation provides a robust analysis independent of dilution effects, which is especially important in urine analyses. Potential applications of VIZR include high-throughput data analysis for toxicological profiling, disease diagnosis, and biomarker identification in any type of biosample for which a control dataset can be established. Although demonstrated herein for the statistical analysis of ¹H NMR data, the VIZR program is platform independent and could be applied to digitized metabolic datasets acquired using other techniques including hyphenated mass spectrometry measurements.

Identification of essential components of Houttuynia cordata by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and the integrated chemometric approach

Starting with Biller-Biemann's work [J.E. Biller, K. Biemann, Anal. Lett. 7 (1974) 515], various kinds of approaches have been proposed to extract GC/MS data to obtain pure components responses. In this paper, an integrated chemometric approach is proposed, which combine four sequential steps, data pretreatment, component perception, resolution and component identification, and then the proposed approach is manipulated to analyze the essential oils of a herbal medicine named Houttuynia cordata (HC). On the basis of the selective information obtained from both chromatograms and mass spectra, the proposed integrated chemometric approach can resolve the two-way GC/MS responses matrix into pure chromatograms and mass spectra without any model assumption on the peak shape. The resolution results obtained from HC samples demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach and indicate that it may be a promising one for analyzing complex chromatograms.     

Separation and identification of synthetic dysstuffs by thin-layer electrophoresis and its application in the forensic analysis of liquors

Summary The excessive demand for alcoholic drinks has resulted in the preparation of fakes and created a problem for their identification. Dyestuffs have been added to alcoholic liquors and the separation of these dyestuff mixtures into their various components has been the subject of study by thin-layer electrophoretic techniques on silica gel-G plantes. 10 dyestuffs commonly used in liquors and beverages have been resolved into their components. The migration distances of the separated coloured zones in five electrolytes, either basic or acidic, have been recorded. The technique was found to be particularly suitable for distinguishing fake samples from genuine ones.     

Chemometric models for the quantitative descriptive sensory analysis of Arabica coffee beverages using near infrared spectroscopy

Mathematical models based on chemometric analyses of the coffee beverage sensory data and NIR spectra of 51 Arabica roasted coffee samples were generated aiming to predict the scores of acidity, bitterness, flavour, cleanliness, body and overall quality of coffee beverage. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to construct the models. The ordered predictor selection (OPS) algorithm was applied to select the wavelengths for the regression model of each sensory attribute in order to take only significant regions into account. The regions of the spectrum defined as important for sensory quality were closely related to the NIR spectra of pure caffeine, trigonelline, 5-caffeoylquinic acid, cellulose, coffee lipids, sucrose and casein. The NIR analyses sustained that the relationship between the sensory characteristics of the beverage and the chemical composition of the roasted grain were as listed below: 1 - the lipids and proteins were closely related to the attribute body; 2 - the caffeine and chlorogenic acids were related to bitterness; 3 - the chlorogenic acids were related to acidity and flavour; 4 - the cleanliness and overall quality were related to caffeine, trigonelline, chlorogenic acid, polysaccharides, sucrose and protein.     

Comparative qualitative analysis of nonylphenol isomers by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with chemometric resolution

The relationship between nonylphenol (NP) isomers' structures and their estrogenic potencies has been evaluated previously. However, due to their similarities in both chemical and physical properties, complete separation and identification remain strikingly difficult. In the present study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is employed to separate commercial NP isomers. Both extracted ion chromatograms (EIC) based on selected ions known to be definitive for the suite of isomers, and the heuristic evolving latent projection (HELP) chemometric resolution method have been applied for the analysis and identification of the NP isomers. This method corrected the wrong identification of one isomer which was suspected based on the EIC data, and also was able to be applied for the determination of an additional isomer with low abundance. Overall, 15 NP isomers have been proposed by the HELP interpretation method. Pure component chromatograms and mass spectra have been extracted with the aid of chemometric resolution. The applicability of the commercial deconvolution software package automated mass spectral deconvolution and identification system (AMDIS) has also been tested against the HELP method for comparative presentation of pure component mass spectra.     

Solid-phase microextraction for the enantiomeric analysis of flavors in beverages

Solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis and separation on a chiral cyclodextrin stationary phase was a rapid, reliable technique for profiling chiral aroma compounds in flavored alcoholic beverages. Several enantiomeric terpenes, esters, alcohols, norisoprenoids, and lactones were identified in berry-, peach-, strawberry-, and citrus-flavored wine and malt beverages (wine coolers). Using this technique, we were able to confirm the addition of synthetic flavoring to several beverages, consistent with label designations.