Application Book Volume 3 - Food & Beverage

Importance of the Topic

Quality assurance in food and beverage analysis is critical to ensure consumer safety, comply with regulations, and maintain product consistency. Modern processing and environmental concerns have increased the need to detect trace contaminants such as nitrosamines, mycotoxins, pesticides, and heavy metals in raw materials and finished products. Simultaneously, characterizing flavors and verifying quality parameters like CO₂ content in beverages, sugar profiles in must and juices, and authenticity markers in honey are essential for product excellence.

Objectives and Study Overview

This compilation of application studies presents diverse analytical challenges in the food and beverage sector and provides examples of tailored solutions using Shimadzu instrumentation. It covers contaminant detection, flavor profiling, heavy metal quantification, and quality control across beverages (beer, wine, water) and foods (fruits, honey, meat, sugar beets). Each study aims to optimize sensitivity, selectivity, and throughput while ensuring compliance with legislative limits.

Methodology and Instrumentation

Key techniques include:

• Gas and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS, LC-MS) for multi-residue screening and flavor/aroma analysis.
• Ion chromatography and TOC analysis for beverage parameters such as CO₂ and organic carbon content.
• Atomic absorption (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy for heavy metal quantification in water and food.
• UV-VIS and FTIR spectroscopy for rapid quality markers like sulfite in wine, hops in beer, lubricants on corks, and sugar/acidity profiles.
• Special modules for total bound nitrogen (TNb) and chemiluminescence for nitrogen in agricultural products.

Shimadzu systems (GCMS-QP2010, GC-2010, LCMS-2010, AA-6300, ICPE-9000, TOC-VCPH, FTIR-8400) enable high-throughput automated analysis with low detection limits and reliable data handling.

Main Results and Discussion

Highlights include:

• NDMA in malt: GC-MS method reduced nitrosodimethylamine to µg/kg levels via indirect-firing kilns.
• Patulin in apple products: LC-MS detection down to sub-ppb levels using APCI.
• Pesticides: Simultaneous determination of organochlorine, organophosphorus, and phenoxy herbicides via GC-MS and LC-MS.
• Mycotoxins and forbidden dyes: LC-MS methods for fungal toxins and carcinogenic azo dyes with µg/kg detection limits.
• Heavy metals in water: AAS and ICP methods yield reliable quantification of Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni, and trace elements per drinking-water regulations.
• Quality markers in beverages: TOC for CO₂ in beer, headspace GC for solvent residues in packaging, UV for sulfite in wine, hops in beer, and FTIR for must and water profiling.
• Food quality control: Parallel LC-RID analysis of sugars and organic acids, fast GC for fatty acid methyl esters, TNb in sugar beets, and UV determination of hydroxyproline in meat.

Benefits and Practical Applications

The presented methods demonstrate high sensitivity, selectivity, and robustness for routine laboratory operation. Automated sampling, rapid analysis times (e.g., Fast GC reduces run times by over 16×), and seamless software integration streamline workflows, support compliance with legislation, and deliver actionable quality data across the food and beverage value chain.

Future Trends and Opportunities

Emerging trends include further speed enhancements via narrow-bore columns and fast GC, expanded hyphenated techniques (LC-MS/MS, GC×GC), advanced data processing with retention-index libraries for reliable identification, miniaturized sample preparation (SPME, microextraction), and integrated smart quality control using real-time sensor networks and AI-driven analytics.

Conclusion

Comprehensive analytical strategies are vital for maintaining food and beverage safety and quality. Shimadzu’s portfolio offers tailored solutions—covering chromatographic, spectrometric, and spectroscopic techniques—that meet diverse regulatory and industry requirements while enabling high throughput, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness.

Reference

Key standards and guidelines:

• European Drinking Water Directive (TVO 2001) and EN 12393-2 for water analysis.
• EN 1484 for TOC and EN 12260 for TNb determination.
• ISO 8128-1 for patulin in apple products.
• German 35 LMBG and Weinverordnung for wine sulfite analysis.
• Mondello et al. papers on retention-index libraries for flavor compound identification.