Sustainability in research

Research group Prof. Dr. Markus Fischer

New DART-MS procedure for a fast and eco-friendly determination of origin for hazelnuts

The conducted study presents a novel approach for a fast and eco-friendly determination of the geographic origin of hazelnuts using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS). In total, 172 hazelnut samples originating from five different countries were analyzed, resulting in an accuracy for the classification of provenance of 93.2%.

A substantial advantage of DART-MS is the minimal need for solvents, which not only reduces cost but also represents a sustainable analytical method. While up to 12 mL of solvent per sample are necessary when applying traditional analytical methods such as liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the amount of solvent for DART-MS is reduced by 92%, which in turn contributes to a decreased ecological footprint in laboratories. Additionally, the sustainability of this method was evaluated using the AGREE (A Green Analytical Chemistry Metric) concept. DART-MS performed better with a sustainability score of 0.61 compared to LC-MS with a score of 0.48.

This result emphasizes the aptitude of DART-MS for a fast and precise determination of provenance of fatty foods like hazelnuts and illustrates the potential of the method to promote more environmentally friendly analytical methods in food chemistry.

Link to publication: "Novel DART-MS approach for rapid and environmentally friendly determination of the geographical origin of hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.)"