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Fast quantification of free amino acids in food by microfluidic voltage–assisted liquid desorption electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry

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Abstract

A method based on microfluidic voltage–assisted liquid desorption electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (VAL-DESI-MS/MS) has been developed for fast quantification of free amino acids in food. Food extracts were transferred to the microfluidic platform and analyzed by liquid desorption ESI-MS/MS. Deuterated aspartic acid (i.e., 2,2,3-d3-Asp) was used as internal standard for analysis. The method had linear calibration curves with r2 values > 0.998. Limits of detection were at the level of sub μM for the amino acids tested, i.e., glutamic acid (Glu), arginine (Arg), tyrosine (Tyr), tryptophan (Trp), and phenylalanine (Phe). To validate the proposed method in food analysis, extracts of Cordyceps fungi were analyzed. Amino acid contents were found in the range from 0.63 mg/g (Tyr in Cordyceps sinensis) to 4.44 mg/g (Glu in Cordyceps militaris). Assay repeatability (RSD) was ≤ 5.2% for all the five amino acids measured in all the samples analyzed. Recovery was found in the range from 95.8 to 105.1% at two spiking concentrations of 0.250 mg/g and 1.00 mg/g. These results prove that the proposed microfluidic VAL-DESI-MS/MS method offers a quick and convenient means of quantifying free amino acids with accuracy and repeatability. Therefore, it may have potential in food analysis for nutritional and quality assessment purposes.

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Funding

This study was funded by Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University Science, Technology, and Innovation Seed Fund (znpy2017023 and znpy2018116 to HH), Traditional Chinese Medicine research project of Hubei Provincial Health Commission (ZY2019M033 to HH), and US National Institutes of Health (GM089557 to YML).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Rd, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China

    Hankun Hu, Yaxia Su, Manting Lin & Jiancheng Tu

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Jackson State University, 1400 Lynch Street, Jackson, MS, 39217, USA

    Shila Smith, Xiangtang Li & Yi-Ming Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sunshine Lake Pharma Co., Ltd, Dongguan, 523850, Guangdong, China

    Zhengming Qian

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  1. Hankun Hu
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  2. Shila Smith
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Correspondence to Jiancheng Tu or Yi-Ming Liu.

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Hu, H., Smith, S., Li, X. et al. Fast quantification of free amino acids in food by microfluidic voltage–assisted liquid desorption electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 1947–1954 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02450-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02450-w

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