GC/MS systems are for measurements of trace components in substances and qualitative analysis of compounds in a variety of fields, including the testing/inspection of food.
As high-sensitivity triple quadrupole systems are mainly used in quantitative analysis of trace components, there is a demand for more general-purpose, easier-to-use single quadrupole systems for multiple purposes, said the firm.
Single quadrupole GC/MS effectiveness
“To meet global regulatory requirements food labs need technologies which can deliver specific and sensitive detection from highly complex food matrices and at the same time create an advantage by lowering the cost of analysis with high sample turnover times,” Stéphane Moreau, product manager MS range at Shimadzu Europa told FoodQualityNews.
“Balancing all needs requires an integrated approach to the sample-result life cycle," he said.
“Food labs are driven by the need to deliver a cost effective solution for routine monitoring programs and single quadrupole GC/MS technologies are highly effective to a range of analytical challenges.
“However, complex matrices require a different way of thinking and the high specificity and sensitivity of GC-MS/MS detection opens up new capabilities for the food lab without investing in expansive sample preparation and method development.”
The turbomolecular pump with improved exhaust efficiency provides higher accuracy in analysis, even when hydrogen or nitrogen in addition to helium is applied as the carrier gas, said the firm.
The GCMS-QP2020 has a function enabling switching of ionization modes without stopping the mass spectrometer.
The Smart SIM method creation function achieves high sensitivity by creating programs to obtain data only during the elution time of the target component.
During multicomponent batch analyses, the system can perform measurements without lowering the sensitivity. It allows simultaneous analysis of more than twice as many components as previous models, said Shimadzu.
Higher data confidence and data quality
Ultra-fast mass spectrometry technologies for GC/MS and GC-MS/MS open up new opportunities for food labs by generating higher data confidence and data quality, added Moreau.
“High scan speeds helps to expand the number of compounds monitored in the same method and enhances quantitation with more data points across a peak," he said.
“Although high scan speeds can also help enhance selectivity there are also different tools available for complex problems which may include multidimensional techniques such as MDGC and GC x GC (Comprehensive) or changing the sample preparation orthogonality using the new AOC-6000 RTC to explore other options with liquid extraction, headspace, SPME or ITEX.”
Food labs are in a highly cost competitive sector and sample throughput is a key metric for success, said Moreau.
“By supporting tools to enhance productivity such as the new Quick-CI and Smart SIM functionality reduces analysis times and running costs while specialized databases support more accurate qualitative analysis, convenient quantitative method development, and screening analysis.
“Instrument uptime is also an important measure of productivity and by developing an ion source that can support both PCI and EI in the same analysis helps to increase throughout and opens new ways of developing expansive methods with greater capabilities.”
Beyond the GCMS-QP2020, Shimadzu offers the entry model GCMS-QP2010 SE and the flagship GCMS-TQ8040 triple quadrupole model.
GC/MS and GC-MS/MS technologies create a capability to work with different services and needs including purge and trap, pyrolysis GC/MS, thermal desorption, multimode inlet for different sample forms, multifunctional auto-sampler and multidimensional GC-GC-MS/MS.
LabSolutions Insight software allows quantitative results for data files to be displayed simultaneously and multi-analyte data review.
Users can select from databases built to meet specific analyses, including environmental and food analysis.
All of them include retention indices to support accurate qualitative analysis, quantitative method development and screening analysis.