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past feature
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Say
Cheese
French scientists have used mass
spectrometry to sample the vapor off
cheeses in order to fingerprint and
classify different varieties.
The characterization of raw materials and
foods is of prime importance to the
agricultural food industry. Recent
research has shown that the rapid analysis
of the volatile fraction of foods by mass
spectrometry is a particularly valuable
tool.
In this study, the volatile components
from cheeses were extracted in a stream of
helium and concentrated on a trap. They
were then desorbed by heating and injected
directly into the source of a gas
chromatograph mass spectrometer.
The mass spectra of the mixture of
volatile components were considered as
fingerprints of the analyzed substances.
Forwardanalysis afforded a limited number
of characteristic mass fragments that
allowed a good classification of the
batches of cheeses studied.
The results of the tests show that 100% of
the cheeses were well classified. A more
detailed study of the distribution of the
groups indicated that the raw milk cheeses
could be distinguished from heat-treated
ones by fragments characteristic of
sulfur-containing compounds characteristic
of camembert.
The full article appears in Volume 74,
2002 of the journal Analytical
Chemistry.
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