Quantitative NMR Analysis of Foods

There is increasing concern about the use of qNMR in food analysis because it has many advantages over conventional chromatographic methods. The simplicity and rapidity of qNMR implementation have been proven to advance food science and technology when studying metabolic and fermentation processes, food ingredients, or controlled manufacturing phases.

Figure 1. Principal characteristics of qNMR compared to hyphenated chromatographic methods. (Simmler et al., 2014)

As an expert in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance, Creative Biostructure uses NMR active nuclei (such as ¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P) to quantify the content or purity of organic substances in food for our customers. The simple applications of our qNMR service include the determination of food chemical composition and the quantitative analysis of changes caused by processing, storage, spoilage, etc.

¹H qNMR Spectroscopic Analysis of Foods

¹H NMR spectroscopy can also be considered a fingerprint technique. Using these methods can quickly assess the sources of chemical variations in food, and the inherent ability of NMR to provide information about the chemical composition of the sample will allow for the identification of the sources of variation.

Our approach

There are two methods for quantitative analysis using ¹H NMR:

• Relative quantification. Provides information on the molar ratio (M_X/M_Y) between two compounds X and Y.
• Absolute quantification. Used to determine the absolute concentration of the analyte.

Measured parameters

Excitation pulse, Repetition time (T_R), broad-band decoupling, acquisition time, time domain (TD), signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), receiver gain (RG), digital resolution, shimming, tuning and matching, temperature, the precision of NMR tube and capillary diameter, solvent-suppression techniques.

Technical Advantages

• The sample preparation for qNMR experiments is simple and does not require special sample preparation.
• Compared to standard chromatographic methods, qNMR has high accuracy and accuracy.
• The development and validation of qNMR methods are relatively simple and can be effectively combined with conventional analysis.

Service Content

We can help customers analyze a wide range of samples. It is mainly concerned with the metabolomics and quantitative analysis of various analytes in foods. Virtually all types of metabolites (e.g., sugars, fatty acids, organic acids, steroids) can be detected by NMR.

• Purity certification of organic compounds in foods.
• Identification and quantification of food metabolites.
• Quality control of food.
• Identification of biomarkers in complex natural matrices.

Our Service Process

Service Application

Figure 2. Sample varieties and panel of qNMR applications. (Simmler et al., 2014)

• In situ monitoring of different fermentation stages of beverages (such as wine, milk, and tea).
• Absolute quantitative analysis of preservatives in processed foods.
• Quantitative evaluation of lipid components in meat (poultry, livestock, seafood) processing.
• Quantitative evaluation of components in fatty acid chain foods.
• Analysis of alcohols, phenols, and carboxylic acids in foods.
• Identify changes in heat-treated foods.
• Determination of water holding capacity, intramuscular fat, and total water content of meat.
• Quantitative analysis of edible oil components.
• Compositional and quantitative analysis of oils and lipids

Creative Biostructure is committed to providing high-quality NMR analysis services to advance the life sciences fields. If you have any questions or needs, please contact us and our customer service staff will help you the first time.

Ordering Process

Reference

1. Simmler C, et al. Universal quantitative NMR analysis of complex natural samples. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 2014, 25: 51-59.