Proceedings

Development of a Data Management Plan for METROFOOD-RI

METROFOOD-RI is a research infrastructure for promoting metrology in food and nutrition andis composed of a physical part where data is generated, and an electronic part where data can be accessed and used. This data includes information on available reference materials, existing reference and official methods, threshold values, proficiency testing as well as analytical data related to food composition, quality, safety, traceability and authenticity. In this work, the development of adata management plan (DMP)is presented to guarantee compliance and sustainability and to make data findable,...

Multi-elemental Analysis of Oysters by Means of Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence

Bivalves like oysters, clams and musselsare known to accumulate high amounts of metals. For this reason, they have been largely used as bio indicators. However, due to the toxic effects of some elements (As, Cd, Cr and Pb) at even the lowest concentrations, they are also analyzed for food safety purposes. Generally, atomic spectrometry techniques, as inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), are employed for element determination in biological samples. Anyhow, the use of these techniques requires sample preparation procedures...

METROFOOD-RI: inventory of the facilities and organization of the Physical Infrastructure

METROFOOD-RI is a Research Infrastructure (RI) for Promoting Metrology in Food and Nutrition composed by a Physical (P-RI) and an electronic (e-RI) infrastructure which are strictly interconnected. PRO-METROFOOD Project (H2020 INFRADEV-02-2016, GA n.739568) represents the “Early Phase” of the RI and has among its objectives the definition of the operational capacities of the P- RI, with the design of its scientific services. The facilities have been inventoried and classified in a database, which provides an organized overview of the capacities of the distributed P-RI.

PRO-METROFOOD Project: Involment of the French Node in setting up a novel European Research Infrastructure in Food and Nutrition

A French node constituted of four representative research institutes in Food chemistry are currently taking part to a consortium of 35 partners from 17 countries within the framework of a H2020-INFRADEV project (PRO-Metrofood). The main purpose of the PRO-Metrofood project is the preparation of the road map for the creation of a European Infrastructure for promoting Metrology in Food and Nutrition within the framework of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). All the French partners have excellent experience in high quality chemical measurement in foodstuff being...

Comprehensive Analysis of Fatty Acids in Oysters by GC-FID/GC-MS

To the analysis of fatty acids in marine biota are generally related some uncertainties. One problem is that most profile analyses reported in literature disagree about the number and type of fatty acids monitored as well as about the percentage to assign to their sum over total fatty acids. Another issue is the discriminant effect in the split/splitless injector of gas chromatographs which can lead to relevant errors in quantifying DHA (22:6 ω3). In a previous work we solved these troubles for 12 fish species. In the present one the case of bivalve mollusks (oysters, mussels) is dealt with....

Food Contamination by Organochlorines: Analysis of Oyster Tissue

Organochlorines (OCs) such as OC pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls are widespread toxic contaminants in the food chain, especially in aquatic biota. Despite they were banned by many years in western countries they still represent a topic of concern as addressed in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) currently in force. The analyses of POPs at trace level in biological matrices may represent a challenge: if not properly conducted they may suffer of great uncertainties. In the present work the international guidelines about Good Laboratory Practice are strictly...

Tailored sample preparation for olive oil Analysis by ¹ H-NMR: Applications in sensory evaluation, origin classification and polyphenol determination

The 1 H-NMR analysis of olive oil after dilution in CDCl 3 has been exhaustively described in many scientific studies already. Due to the inherently low sensitivity of NMR, this approach provides little information about minor components present in the sample like polyphenols and volatiles. An alternative sample preparation technique was developed and tested for its potential in addressing three important analytical issues. By employing a simple extraction with acetonitrile, a drastic enrichment of polyphenols and other polar compounds can be achieved. 1 H-NMR analysis of these extracts can...

The development of Reference Materials in virgin olive oil sensory assessment: The contribution of Flavour Chemistry

The panel test is the standard method described by the current international regulations (e.g. norms from the International Olive Council) to assess sensory quality of virgin olive oil. At present, an intense discussion is centred in the need for the standardization of a method to be used in the assessment of the organoleptic characteristics in addition to the established panel test, as well as in the required improvement of the latter. In both cases, the existing knowledge on volatile compounds has to be applied and the development of reference materials are needed for increasing the...

Time Domain Reflectometry as a promising analytical approach for the determination of fatty acid ethyl esters in extra virgin olive oils

Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are important quality and genuineness parameters for extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs), since they are considered i) direct markers strongly related to the quality of the olives and ii) possible indirect markers of an illegal soft-deodorization treatment. The EU Reg. 2095/2016 fixes the actual limit for FAEEs at 35 mg/kg for the commercial category of EVOO; the official EU analytical method for their determination in olive oil is particularly time consuming, so robust, rapid, and environmental friendly approaches for a preliminary screening of samples could be...

The EU H2020 OLEUM Project: state of play and advancements