Detection of Corn Adulteration in Brazilian Coffee (Coffea arabica) by Tocopherol Profiling and Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy.

Coffee is a high-value commodity that is a target for adulteration, leading to loss of quality and causing significant loss to consumers. Therefore, there is significant interest in developing methods for detecting coffee adulteration and improving the sensitivity and accuracy of these methods. Corn and other lower value crops are potential adulterants, along with sticks and coffee husks.

Composition and antifungal activity of the essential oil of the Brazilian Chenopodium ambrosioides L.

The antifungal activity of essential oil (EO) from the Brazilian epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides L.) was evaluated by the poison food assay at concentrations of 0.3%, 0.

Gamma-tocopherol as a marker of Brazilian coffee (Coffea arabica L.) adulteration by corn.

The adulteration of coffee with cereals, coffee twigs, etc. is apparently widespread in Brazil with corn being considered the most widely used. No adequate methods are available to detect such contamination in commercial coffee.

Purification of the seven tetranortriterpenoids in neem (Azadirachta indica) seed by counter-current chromatography sequentially followed by isocratic preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Counter-current chromatography (CCC) sequentially followed by isocratic preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was used to isolate the seven bio-actives (azadirachtin A, azadirachtin B, azadirachtin H, desacetylnimbin, desacetylsalannin, nimbin and salannin) from the seed concentrate (NSC) of the neem tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juss). Reproducible, narrow polarity range, high purity fractions were obtained from repeated injections of the NSC (700 mg loadings/injection), on to a relatively small volume CCC coil (116 mL).

Triacylglycerol composition of coffee beans (Coffea canephora P.) by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography and positive electrospray tandem mass spectroscopy.

The triacylglycerol (TAG) composition of coffee beans (Coffea canephora P.) was determined by reversed phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry. The TAGs were separated on a Microsorb RP C-18 column in series with a Supelcosil RP C-18 column using isocratic elution with acetonitrile/2-propanol/hexane (v/v/v, 57:38:5) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min for 100 min.

Location of double bonds in diene and triene acetates by partial reduction followed by methylthiolation.

Two random reduction procedures (NH2NH2/H2O2 and NH2NH2/O2) were compared and conditions optimized for the reduction of two synthetic pheromone compounds (9Z,11E)-9,11-tetradecadienyl acetate and (9Z,12E)-9,12-tetradecadienyl acetate on a 300 microg scale at 60 degrees C. The relative amounts of the four products (completely reduced acetate, unreacted diene acetate and two monoene acetates), characterized by gas chromatography (GC) from the reaction mixture, depended on the reaction conditions. The reduction was straightforward without any detectable undesired side products.

Identification (GC and GC-MS) of unsaturated acetates in Elasmopalpus lignosellus and their biological activity (GC-EAD and EAG).

Two insect colonies of Elasmopalpus lignosellus were reared in our laboratory, the first being initiated from pupae obtained from a cornfield in the region of Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais and the second from a cornfield in the region of Goiânia, Goiás. From the two colonies, two extracts were prepared from the pheromone glands of virgin E. lignosellus females.

Determination of the triacylglycerol composition of coffee beans by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Reverse-phase HPLC with refractive index and light scattering detectors in isocratic and gradient elution modes, respectively, was applied for the separation of the major triacylglycerols (TAG) in coffee lipids. Twelve TAG species could be identified and determined using a linear gradient of acetonitrile in dichloromethane: dichloroethane. The quantitative evaluation was based on the relative area percentages derived directly from a data-station.

Comparison of GC and HPLC for the quantification of organic acids in coffee.

A GC and an HPLC method for the quantification of organic acids OAs in coffee have been compared. The GC procedure, employing trimethylsilyl derivatives, was found to be very tedious. The HPLC method, which employed an ion exchange column using a flow gradient of water containing 1% phosphoric acid and UV detection (210 nm), was found to be much simpler for the quantification of eight organic acids (oxalic, succinic, fumaric, malic, tartaric, citric, quinic and fumaric acids) in four representative coffee samples.