Wednesday morning, May 7th  

Brian Musselman, Joseph Lapointe, Robert Goguen and Crystal Hart

IonSense, Inc. , Saugus, MA, USA, and Boston University Forensics Program, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract: Nutritional supplements incorporate a wide variety of plant materials. Some supplements are single plant but often different tea leaves and even chemicals are added to produce products with the desired composition. As the quality control of these materials must improve with new regulations the need for relevant chemical test increases the burden on small manufacturers and exporters.  We have completed analysis of a wide variety of medicinal supplements utilizing Direct Ionization in Real Time ambient ionization mass spectrometry. The method provides an easy means to complete chemical analysis with little sample prep. During these investigations we have been able to generate lipid profiles for the triglycerides in just seconds per sample. Statistical analysis of the data can be used to determine the presence / absence of different plant materials. The method affords a rapid means to check for sample composition and even quality as detection of irregular lipid profiles is made possible even when small concentrations of lipids are present as in the case of dried leaves.