Development of a positive pressure-based instrumentation for efficient solid phase extraction

Solid phase extraction technique is a widely used sample preparation technique for the extraction of components from complex food matrices. However, there are several parameters in SPE that leads to low recovery, and reproducibility, insufficiently clean extracts and evaporation of volatile compounds. These drawbacks can be addressed through the use of innovative techniques and instrumentation that offers improved efficiency and accuracy for isolation of active constituents from food and beverage samples. Here a solid phase extraction methodology and extraction assembly has been developed for extracting compounds from orange fruit juice, followed by analysis using a LC-HRMS system. The methodology and assembly eliminate the evaporation step, thus facilitating the analysis of wide range of volatile and non-volatile compounds without the risk of their evaporation, making it particularly suitable for thermo-sensitive compounds. Also, the elute can be used for further analysis using LC-HRMS. The effectiveness of the designed extraction assembly and technique was demonstrated by comparing the procedure with the available conventional extraction assemblies, highlighting the advantages of the developed method.

Graphical abstract