Cheese lipid profile using direct imprinting in glass surface mass spectrometry

Abstract

Cheeses have always been targeted for frauds. Among the most common is the adulteration of highly-priced milk (goat and sheep) with less valuable cow milk, which is sold as a raw material for the cheese industry. The need for sensitive techniques to assess authenticity encourages the development and improvement of analytical methods. Herein we present an approach employing Direct Imprinting in Glass Surface Mass Spectrometry (DIGS-MS) for qualitative cheese analysis in a MALDI instrument, featuring easy sample preparation and fast data acquisition/interpretation. It is possible to readily identify complex lipids in different types of cheese, associating them as potential quality markers. Controlling productive stages may also be feasible using this technology by integrating analytical and statistical data, resulting in a powerful combination for sample discrimination based on lipid profiles. This approach presents great signal cleanliness in mass spectra, with easy data workup and interpretation.