Direct analysis in real time and related new ionization techniques as a tool for rapid analysis

Jana Hajslova1, Bert Popping2

1Institute of Chemical Technology, Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Prague,Czech Republic, ; 2Biology & Immunology, Eurofins Scientific Group, Hamburg, Germany,

Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) technology has been commercialisedonly recently, nevertheless, it is very well suited to revolutionise the analytical world as it delivers results for a number of scientific questions in real time and without prior/with minimal sample preparation. DART represents atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) related technique employing a corona discharge for this purpose. Metastable helium atoms, originated in the plasma, react with ambient water, oxygen, or other atmospheric molecules to produce the reactive ionizing species. DART ion source has been shown to be efficient for soft ionization of a wide range of both polar and non-polar compounds.In this presentationthe case studies based on the application of DART technology hyphenated with high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HR TOFMS) will be demonstrated in following areas:

  • Authentication of olive oil brands
  • Traceability in beer production chain
  • Analysis of melamine in milk and dairy products
  • Detection of pesticides in fruit and cereals
  • Analysis of soft drinks composition
  • Identification of fraudof brand-name herb liquors and perfumes.

References

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  1. Schurek, J.; L. Vaclavik, et al. "Control of Strobilurin Fungicides in Wheat Using Direct Analysis in Real Time Accurate Time-of-Flight and Desorption Electrospray Ionization Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry." Anal. Chem. (in press)Publication Date (Web): November 13, 2008, <