Innovation for Excellence in Detection Technology Rapid Analysis of Nutritional Supplements Using a Standalone Electrospray Ionization Ion Mobility Spectrometer

A commercially available electrospray ionization ion mobility spectrometer system is used to quantify the amount of nutritional supplements through direct introduction in solution phase. We investigated the general capability of this technique for the rapid screening of various nutritional supplements from unknown sources. Five nutritional supplements were used in this study: LLeucine, Sucralose, Epigallocatechin gallate, Guggulsterones, and Coenzyme Q10. Analysis times were in the millisecond range with IMS resolving powers of 70-80 and sensitivities as low as 0.001 mg/mL in concentration. Based on the calibration curves established using selected samples, the linear response range greater than 2 orders of magnitude was demonstrated. Although the technique presented requires further optimization to obtain calibration curves for all five nutritional supplements, this technique has distinct advantages over the currently used HPLC methods, in particular: fast analysis times, a low cost green analytical method, and molecules of opposite polarities can be tested without changing columns and/or mobile phases.