Work

An FIA-MS Method for Rapid Coffee Adulteration Detection: A Comparative Study with a Non-Targeted LC-MS Approach

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Coffee adulteration is a growing concern in the food industry due to economic and quality implications. This study evaluates a rapid, non-targeted fingerprinting method based on flow injection analysis-mass spectrometry (FIA-MS) for detecting common coffee adulterants. A total of 119 samples were analyzed, including 43 coffee samples and 76 samples of common coffee adulterants (16 chicory, 10 barley, and 50 flour samples). FIA-MS combined with chemometric analysis allowed for the classification of pure and adulterated coffee samples with over 95% accuracy. Compared to LC-MS, the FIA-MS method showed a similar performance while offering significantly faster analysis and lower solvent consumption, making it a practical and sustainable option for high-throughput screening. For PLS regression studies, calibration and prediction errors were consistently below 0.91% and 11.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the methodology was compared with a non-targeted LC-MS approach, showing an excellent performance.

Source: Foods

DOI: 10.3390/foods14172931

Authors: Nerea Núñez, Javier Saurina, Oscar Núñez

Institutions: Universitat de Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Recerca i Universitats

Language: English

Topic: Spectroscopy and Chemometric Analyses

Subfield: Analytical Chemistry

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,499