Application of Mass Spectrometric Techniques for Ensuring Food Integrity, Quality and Authenticity

Part 1: Chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques solutions to assess food quality and maintain purity control

This webinar will present solutions to assess food quality and maintain purity control, primarily by focusing on their lipid profiles using chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques. Traditionally both GC and HPLC have been applied to routine approaches, whereas mass spectrometric (MS) approaches are the newer, more insightful techniques used to assess food quality and purity control. A particular emphasis will be given to the study of the patterns of volatile compounds in food, using MS techniques, with cases of olive oils and honey as prime examples.

What you will learn:

• Meaning of terms food “quality” and “purity” and related parameters from a legal viewpoint
• Chromatographic techniques used in official food control and their development
• How different GC/MS techniques are used to assess “quality” and “purity”
• How patterns of volatile compounds vs. sensory evaluation compare for identification and purity assessmen

Presenter: Prof. Lanfranco Conte (Department of Food Chemistry at University of Udine, Province of Udine, Italy)

In 1977 Lanfranco Conte was awarded the “Laurea” in Biological Sciences defending an experimental thesis in Chemistry of fermentative processes at University of Bologna. Between 1973 and 1982 he worked as laboratory technician at University of Bologna. In 1982 he moved to the laboratory of the Italian Food Fraud Detection Agency as the Chief Chemistry Officer, and later in 1992, he became associate professor in Food Chemistry at University of Udine, subsequently becoming full professor in Food Chemistry in 1994.

The research activity of Lanfranco Conte focusses on the development and validation of analytical methods to assess the authenticity, quality and (chemical) safety of several foods, mainly olive and seeds oils and honeys.

L. Conte is author or co-author of more than 250 Scientific papers on peer reviewed journals, and 8 book chapters and 1 book devoted to sample preparation.

Part 2: UHPLC/QTOF untargeted metabolomics approaches towards food integrity: Ensuring hazelnut geographical origin and saffron authenticity

The combined effect of geographical origin and cultivar on hazelnut phytochemical fingerprints has been evaluated through UHPLC-Q/TOF untargeted metabolomics coupled to multivariate statistical analysis. Unsupervised statistics (hierarchical clustering and PCA) and supervised statistics (OPLS-DA) allowed identifying markers specifically discriminating hazelnut cultivar or geographical origin. Among others, secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds (mainly flavonoids) and phytosterols showed the strongest discrimination potential. Similarly, UHPLC-Q/TOF allowed discriminating saffron geographical origin (three distinct Italian PDO productions, separately from commercial products and foreign products). This untargeted metabolomics approach has been finally used to evaluate the most critical adulteration of saffron, namely the addition of other flower parts (stamens and tepals) to styles. Adulteration down to 5% of addition could be discriminated by metabolomics.

What you will learn:

• How using untargeted metabolomics with LC UHPLC-Q/TOF with multivariate statistical analysis can be used to:
• Identify the key biomarkers for hazelnut for confident identification/discrimination
• Determine the geographical origin of hazelnut irrespective from the cultivar
• Identify critical adulteration of saffron

Presenter: Prof. Luigi Lucini (Dept of Biochemistry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy)

Luigi Lucini is professor of Biochemistry at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy holding degrees in Food science and technology (1999), and “Safety in food industry” (2000), as well as a PhD in “Pesticides chemistry, biochemistry and ecology” (2004) from the University of Milan.

In 2008 he moved to Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, as researcher and since 2018 he is Associate Professor in agricultural chemistry. He is responsible of the metabolomic facility at his Faculty, dealing with plant, food, microbiology, and environmental metabolomics.

Research topics include the effect of edaphic factors and abiotic stresses on plant biochemistry and plant secondary metabolism, including stress mechanisms, plant resilience and acclimation processes. Luigi Lucini is dealing with the modulation of functional components in plant-based foods, and in the use of plant biostimulants to increase sustainable agricultural production.