Rapid Screening of Dietary Supplements with Direct Analysis ID-CUBE Coupled to an Exactive Mass Spectrometer

Instrument Type: LCMS

In Westernized cultures, dietary supplements have been gaining popularity in recent years. In China, traditional herbal supplements have been used for millennia. In both cases, the threat of adulteration and need for further characterization of ingredients have been driving forces behind the need for increased screening. This note presents a new approach to the rapid screening of a product marketed as an herbal weight loss aid and the fingerprint characterization of omega fatty acid dietary supplements derived from marine and flaxseed oils.

Measuring Phytosterols in Health Supplements by LC/MS

Instrument Type: LCMS

Plant sterols, phytosterols, are claimed to help lower cholesterol levels in humans. In the year 2000, the United States Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) approved a health claim relating phytosterol ester or phytostanol ester consumption to reduced risk for coronary heart disease. Thus, there is increased interest in qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytosterols in food products. Phytosterols are typically measured by gas chromatography after derivatization. In this study, phytosterols were injected onto an LC-MS for direct analysis.