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Life Sciences Mass spectrometry accelerates differentiation of edible and gutter oils Dr Yao Zhong-ping has developed a new approach that allows the rapid authentication of edible oils and screening of gutter oils.

Dr Yao Zhong-ping has developed a new approach that allows the rapid authentication of
edible oils and screening of gutter oils.

Applying matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry technology, the differentiation of safe edible and toxic gutter oils can be completed within minutes.

Imagine yourself enjoying tasty fried delicacies. You may not be aware that you are probably taking in poisonous gutter oils! Such oils are visually indistinguishable from edible oil and consumers have no way of ensuring their safety. Now, PolyU has discovered an efficient and reliable way of identifying gutter oils, shedding light on a food safety concern felt around the world.

Gutter oils are known to have serious effects on health, causing liver and stomach illnesses and even increasing the risk of cancer. The widespread use of such oils has thus attracted great concern in recent years, but the conventional approach to oil testing is laborious and time-consuming. Given this background, Dr Yao Zhong-ping of the Food Safety and Technology Research Centre at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology has developed a new approach that allows the rapid authentication of edible oils and screening of gutter oils.

The new method generates high quality and highly-reproducible spectra results of edible oils through simple processes.  

The new method generates high quality and highly-reproducible spectra results of edible oils through simple processes.

Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) technology, this new method generates high quality and highly ­reproducible spectra results through simple processes, including direct sample induction, automatic data acquisition and data processing.

A preliminary spectral database of common labelled edible oils has also been established, with the MALDI-MS spectral patterns of 32 types of oils (including peanut, olive, canola and corn oils). Using the database, edible oil samples can be authenticated within five minutes by analysing their unique spectral fingerprints via arithmetic calculations and spectrum comparisons, thus rapidly screening out gutter oils.

Findings related to the approach have been published in Analytica Chimica Acta, a leading journal in analytical chemistry.