Non-targeted detection of grape molasses adulteration with sugar and apple molasses by mid-infrared spectroscopy coupled to independent components analysis.

In the light of the current food security crisis, food adulteration has resurfaced on the international scene, inflicting potential safety issues and leading more and more consumers into deception. This situation led food control actors to remobilise their potential to face this problem, particularly in terms of analytical chemistry competencies. Similar to honey, grape molasses may be considered very likely to be adulterated leading to quality and authenticity issues, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it is widely consumed as a traditional sweetener.

Bioaccessibility of lead in Dittrichia viscosa plants and risk assessment of human exposure around a fertilizer industry in Lebanon.

Total and bioaccessible lead (Pb) concentrations in Dittrichia viscosa and soil samples were considered for estimating the potential health risk, related to both plant intake and accidental soil ingestion by adult and child consumers, near a Lebanese fertilizer plant. A total of 27 plant samples, from 9 uncultivated sites situated around the plant, were analyzed in order to assess the total and bioaccessible Pb content. Physiologically based extraction test (PBET) was used to estimate oral bioaccessibility of Pb in edible plant parts.

Bioaccessibility and radioisotopes of lead in soils around a fertilizer industry in Lebanon.

The use of phosphate ore by fertilizer industries is considered a major source of soil contamination by trace metals and radionuclides. Despite its low mobility and bioavailability, lead (Pb) is among soil contaminants that pose a serious risk to human health. This study evaluates the potential impact of a fertilizer factory in North Lebanon on the total content of Pb and the activity concentration of its radioisotopes in residential, non-agricultural lands around the industry, as well as its mobility and bioaccessibility in soil samples collected at different depths.

Chemical Variability of the Essential Oil of Boiss. from Lebanon, Assessed by Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Common Component and Specific Weight Analysis (CCSWA).

Boiss., an endemic plant to Lebanon, is widely acknowledged in Lebanese traditional medicine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the drying method, region, and time of harvest on yield and chemical composition of essential oils (EOs).

Characterization of spatial and temporal patterns in surface water quality: a case study of four major Lebanese rivers.

In this work, four major Lebanese rivers were investigated, the Damour, Ibrahim, Kadisha, and Orontes, which are located in South, Central, and North Lebanon and Bekaa Valley, respectively. Five sampling sites were considered from upstream to downstream, and 12 sampling campaigns over four seasons were conducted during 2010-2011. Thirty-seven physicochemical parameters and five microbial tests were evaluated.

An untargeted evaluation of food contact materials by flow injection analysis-mass spectrometry (FIA-MS) combined with independent components analysis (ICA).

Food contact materials (FCMs), especially plastics, are known to be a potential source of contaminants in food. In fact, various groups of additives are used to protect the integrity of the material during processing and life time. However, these intentionally added substances (IAS) could also lead to degradation products called non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), due to reactions occurring in the polymeric material.

Determination of the optimal number of components in independent components analysis.

Independent components analysis (ICA) may be considered as one of the most established blind source separation techniques for the treatment of complex data sets in analytical chemistry. Like other similar methods, the determination of the optimal number of latent variables, in this case, independent components (ICs), is a crucial step before any modeling. Therefore, validation methods are required in order to decide about the optimal number of ICs to be used in the computation of the final model.

Spatial and temporal assessment of surface water quality in the Arka River, Akkar, Lebanon.

Surface water quality monitoring constitutes a crucial and important step in any water quality management system. Twenty-three physicochemical and microbiological parameters were assessed in surface water samples collected from the Arka River located in the Akkar District, north of Lebanon. Eight sampling locations were considered along the river and seven sampling campaigns were performed in order to evaluate spatial and temporal influences.

Chemometric Tools to Highlight the Variability of the Chemical Composition and Yield of Lebanese Origanum syriacum L. Essential Oil.

This study deals with the variation in the yield and composition of Lebanese Origanum syriacum L. essential oil (EO) according to harvesting time, drying methods used, and geographical location. Plant material was harvested twice a month all over 2013 and 2014 from Qartaba and Achkout located at high altitude and from Byblos at low altitude.

Attenuated total reflectance-mid infrared spectroscopy (ATR-MIR) coupled with independent components analysis (ICA): A fast method to determine plasticizers in polylactide (PLA).

Compliance of plastic food contact materials (FCMs) with regulatory specifications in force, requires a better knowledge of their interaction phenomena with food or food simulants in contact. However these migration tests could be very complex, expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, alternative procedures were introduced based on the determination of potential migrants in the initial material, allowing the use of mathematical modeling, worst case scenarios and other alternative approaches, for simple and fast compliance testing.

Independent components analysis coupled with 3D-front-face fluorescence spectroscopy to study the interaction between plastic food packaging and olive oil.

Olive oil is one of the most valued sources of fats in the Mediterranean diet. Its storage was generally done using glass or metallic packaging materials. Nowadays, plastic packaging has gained worldwide spread for the storage of olive oil.

Rapid discrimination of plastic packaging materials using MIR spectroscopy coupled with independent components analysis (ICA).

Plastic packaging wastes increased considerably in recent decades, raising a major and serious public concern on political, economical and environmental levels. Dealing with this kind of problems is generally done by landfilling and energy recovery. However, these two methods are becoming more and more expensive, hazardous to the public health and the environment.

Chemometric tools to highlight possible migration of compounds from packaging to sunflower oils.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) could be considered for the packaging of vegetable oils taking into account the impact of its oxygen permeability on the oxidation of the oil and the migration of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the polymer matrix. After accelerated aging tests at 40 °C for 10, 20, and 30 days, the headspace of three sunflower oils packed in PET with high density polyethylene caps was carried out using solid phase microextraction. VOCs such as benzene hydrocarbons, ethylbenzene, xylene isomers and diethyl phthalate were identified in vegetable oils by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Chemometric tools to highlight non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

In an effort to identify non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), which is still a challenging task for analytical chemists, PET pellets, preforms and bottles were analyzed by an optimized headspace solid phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Fingerprints obtained by the proposed method were analyzed by three chemometric tools: Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Independent Components Analysis (ICA) and a multi-block method (Common Components and Specific Weights Analysis CCSWA) in order to extract pertinent variations in NIAS concentrations. Total ion current (TIC) chromatograms were used for PCA and ICA while extracted ion chromatograms (EIC) were used for CCSWA, each ion corresponding to a block.