On‐line process monitoring of coffee roasting by resonant laser ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry: bridging the gap from industrial batch roasting to flavour formation inside an individual coffee bean

Resonance‐enhanced multiphoton ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (REMPI‐TOFMS) enables the fast and sensitive on‐line monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) formed during coffee roasting. On the one hand, REMPI‐TOFMS was applied to monitor roasting gases of an industrial roaster (1500 kg/h capacity), with the aim of determining the roast degree in real‐time from the transient chemical signature of VOCs. On the other hand, a previously developed μ‐probe sampling device was used to analyse roasting gases from individual coffee beans. The aim was to explore fundamental processes at the individual bean level and link these to phenomena at the batch level. The pioneering single‐bean experiments were conducted in two configurations: (1) VOCs formed inside a bean were sampled in situ, i.e. via a drilled μ‐hole, from the interior, using a μ‐probe (inside). (2) VOCs were sampled on‐line in close vicinity of a single coffee bean's surface (outside). The focus was on VOCs originating from hydrolysis and pyrolytic degradation of chlorogenic acids, like feruloyl quinic acid and caffeoyl quinic acid. The single bean experiments revealed interesting phenomena. First, differences in time–intensity profiles between inside versus outside (time shift of maximum) were observed and tentatively linked to the permeability of the bean's cell walls material. Second, sharp bursts of some VOCs were observed, while others did exhibit smooth release curves. It is believed that these reflect a direct observation of bean popping during roasting. Finally, discrimination between Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora was demonstrated based on high‐mass volatile markers, exclusively present in spectra of Coffea arabica. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Novel Interface for Optimized Coupling of Gas Chromatography and Supersonic Jet Spectroscopy

The laser-based methods Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) and Resonance-Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization (REMPI) can be used as highly selective detection modes for gas chromatography (GC). One major prerequisite for successful application of these detection methods is the availability of appropriate and reliable interfaces between the GC effluent and the molecular beam inlet. When a pulsed supersonic molecular beam (jet) source is used, the analyte molecules are efficiently cooled, allowing maximum selectivity of the laser spectroscopic detection methods. However, several technical problems have to be solved for practical realization of a GC-supersonic jet valve hyphenation. The pulsed jet interface should not interfere with the GC properties and the supersonic molecular beam properties. Further a good working cycle for the conversion from the continuously flowing GC current to the pulsed jet gas flow should be attained. This paper presents a novel setup of a GC-pulsed jet interface. The construction allows temporal and spatial compression of the analyte molecules in jet gas pulse and thus an increase of the detection sensitivity. Moreover, the GC effluent comes into contact only with glass surfaces and not with valve parts like plungers and seals. This reduces memory effects and sample decomposition. The valve setup is tested with a REMPI-TOFMS instrument.     

A Molecular Toolkit for the Functionalization of Titanium‐Based Biomaterials That Selectively Control Integrin‐Mediated Cell Adhesion

We present a click chemistry‐based molecular toolkit for the biofunctionalization of materials to selectively control integrin‐mediated cell adhesion. To this end, α5β1‐selective RGD peptidomimetics were covalently immobilized on Ti‐based materials, and the capacity to promote the selective binding of α5β1 was evaluated using a solid‐phase integrin binding assay. This functionalization strategy yielded surfaces with a nine‐fold increased affinity for α5β1, in comparison to control samples, and total selectivity against the binding of the closely related integrin αvβ3. Moreover, our methodology allowed the screening of several phosphonic acid containing anchoring units to find the best spacer–anchor moiety required for establishing an efficient binding to titanium and to promote selective integrin binding. The integrin subtype specificity of these biofunctionalized surfaces was further examined in vitro by inducing selective adhesion of genetically modified fibroblasts, which express exclusively the α5β1 integrin. The versatility of our molecular toolkit was proven by shifting the cellular specificity of the materials from α5β1‐ to αvβ3‐expressing fibroblasts by using an αvβ3‐selective peptidomimetic as coating molecule. The results shown here represent the first functionalization of Ti‐based materials with α5β1‐ or αvβ3‐selective peptidomimetics that allow an unprecedented control to discriminate between α5β1‐ and αvβ3‐mediated adhesions. The role of these two integrins in different biological events is still a matter of debate and is frequently discussed in literature. Thus, such bioactive titanium surfaces will be of great relevance for the study of integrin‐mediated cell adhesion and the development of new biomaterials targeting specific cell types.     

Surface acidic sites of highly disperse magnesium chloride: IR and ESR spectroscopy studies

Experimental data obtained by means of some high performance techniques allow to identify and register quantitatively the Lewis acidic sites on the surface of highly disperse magnesium chloride. Carbon monoxide adsorption on magnesium chloride has been studied with the IR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (IRS-DR). The interaction of some stable nitroxyl radicals with magnesium chloride has been investigated with the ESR technique.     

Performance Evaluation of Different Phase-Doppler Systems

The results of comparative measurements of three different phase-Doppler systems applied to a steady-state water spray are discussed. The three receiving systems, i. e. DANTEC 57X receiving optics with covariance processor, an AEROMETRICS fibre-based receiver with DSA processor and standard INVENT phase-Doppler extension, were used with a 2-D fibre-optics-based transmitting system. A constant scattering angle of 70° was chosen, which is near the Brewster angle for water. Measurements were taken in the spray cone of hollow-cone pressure atomizer at two different axial distances from the nozzle. Local size distributions, size/velocity correlations and the mean diameters D₁₀ and D₃₂ were compared. The results indicate very good agreement between the different systems, especially with respect to the mean diameters. Larger scatter of the results occurs for the measured volume flow rates, but the calculated mean volume flow rates coincide fairly well with the nominal flow rate of the atomizer.     

Studies of solution dynamics of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) and its iodine adduct

Carbon-13 NMR spin-lattice relaxation times T₁ of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and PVP-iodine have been studied in several solvents and at different temperatures. Three kinds of motion can be identified from the T₁ data: segmental motion, ring rotation, and ring puckering. The effective correlation time for segmental motion is calculated to be 1 × 10^?9s, in good agreement with published proton NMR data. Another solvent, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, behaves like D₂O, the segmental correlation time being 3 × 10^?9s. In benzene, however, the linewidths are very broad and tend to narrow with increasing temperature, but the T₁s are not very different from those of PVP in D₂O. The results suggest association of pyrrolidone rings in benzene that reduces chain dimensions and also restricts chain mobility. As for PVP-iodine in water, again broad resonances are observed which sharpen considerably at higher temperatures. The result agrees with previous suggestions of specific interactions between the pyrrolidone group and iodine.