CHRONECT Workstation MCPD -NEW

They occur during the essential refinement process during the manufacture of oils. In 2016, research results from animal tests induced the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to decrease the recommended uptake of 3-MCPD from 2 µg to 0.8 µg per kilogram body weight. 2-MCPD is suspected to be harmful as well; the bad impact of glycidol was already verified. The most frequently occurring form of these compounds, the esters, are not carcinogenic. If the compounds are hydrolyzed into their free forms, e.g. by heat or during the process of digestion, they are presumed to be potentially toxic.

Their carcinogenicity make efficient analytics necessary. Thus, their increased content in foodstuff has to be determined fast and reliably. Axel Semrau has developed a specific workstation - the CHRONECT Workstation MCPD - which automates the entire manually time-consuming sample preparation and online analytics. Axel Semrau optimized with DGF Fast & Clean the recommended method AOCS Cd 29c-13. Clean samples and fast analytics are ensured.

Application:
According to the DGF (German Society for Fat Science) specifications (AOCS Cd 29c-13), there is an indirect method for the determination of the occurring esters from 2-MCPD, 3-MCPD and glycidol. The method includes transesterification of MCPD and glycidyl esters, the extraction of the emerging free MCPD and subsequent derivatization.

By this application, Axel Semrau has automated all steps within the method. A CTC PAL3 DHR RSI/RTC autosampler (160 cm) has been mounted onto an Bruker EVOQ GC-TQ with 456-GC. Numerous modules allow a full automation of the sample preparation. The preparation is coupled online to the GC-MS system. The operator only weighs in the sample and prepares aliquots of sodium sulfate; all subsequent steps are performed by the application.

The entire system is controlled by the user-friendly software platform CHRONOS. Subsequently, the systems' productivity is optimized and online validation of data is enabled.