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MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric determination of intact phospholipids as markers of illegal bovine milk adulteration of high-quality milk

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry volume 405, pages 1641–1649 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

In the dairy industry one of the most common frauds is mixing high-value milk (sheep’s and goats’) with milk of lower value (cows’). This illegal practice has commercial, ethical, and serious sanitary consequences because consumers can be exposed to hidden allergens contained in the undeclared cows’ milk. Here, we investigated the possibility of using matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization (MALDI)-time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) as a rapid, sensitive, and accurate technique for detection of milk adulteration by analysis of phospholipid profiles. Lipid extracts of pure raw milk, commercial milk, and binary mixtures of cows’ and goats’ milk and cows’ and sheep’s milk (the concentrations of each milk varied from 0 % to 50 %) were analyzed with α-cyano-4-chlorocinnamic acid as matrix. The abundance ratio of the ions at m/z 703 and m/z 706 was found to be species-correlated and was used as marker of cows’ milk in sheep’s and goats’ milk. Furthermore, the procedure could potentially be applied to cheese samples, because peaks at m/z 703 and 706 were also found in several commercial cheese samples. This approach proved to be an efficient, rapid, and inexpensive method of detecting milk fraud.

MALDI-TOF MS analysis of intact phospholipid in milk mixtures

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Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, via Orabona 4, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Cosima D. Calvano, Cristina De Ceglie, Antonella Aresta, Laura A. Facchini & Carlo G. Zambonin

  2. Centro Interdipartimentale SMART, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, via Orabona 4, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Antonella Aresta & Carlo G. Zambonin

Authors
  1. Cosima D. Calvano
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  2. Cristina De Ceglie
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  3. Antonella Aresta
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  4. Laura A. Facchini
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  5. Carlo G. Zambonin
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Correspondence to Cosima D. Calvano.

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Calvano, C.D., De Ceglie, C., Aresta, A. et al. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric determination of intact phospholipids as markers of illegal bovine milk adulteration of high-quality milk. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 1641–1649 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-6597-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-6597-z

Keywords

  • Milk adulteration
  • Goat
  • Cow
  • Sheep
  • MALDI
  • Lipid