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Pickering Laboratories to introduce new and updated products and applications at PITTCON

By Mike Gottschalk

PITTCON 2011 – Atlanta, Georgia:

Pickering Laboratories is building on the success of the LCTech product line with the introduction of the new GPC VARIO III, a fast and flexible instrument for Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and upgradeable for automated sample preparation using SPE.  
The GPC VARIO III is completely re-designed to optimize every component of XYZ Robot arm technology for faster processing and feature-rich flexibility. Highlighted is the innovative arm technology that handles the processing of samples.
The integrated software allows for easy setup with drag and drop icons for even complex multi-step processes for volumes of 1mL to 1Liter . The modular design enables processing scalability and flexibility to standard columns, bottle and vial sizes.
Another GPC instrument, GPC Quattro will be shown. This popular 4 column GPC is designed for concurrent operation of 4 columns providing the faster throughput and flexible programming. 
For Post-Column applications the new Pinnacle PCX Sigma series instrument featuring faster Amino Acid Analysis and new software features is being introduced as an update to our line of derivatization instruments.  The small yet powerful UVE photochemical reactor for Aflatoxin analysis will also be shown.
Pickering Laboratories will be introducing new post-column methods for Hexavalent Chromium (Chrom-6), Aflatoxin in herbal products. As part of the AFFCO and AOAC lab committee collaboration Pickering Labs developed our new method for the effective analysis of Sugars in feeds with existing and additive sugars.
With increasing interest in Chromium 6 in drinking water this year,  Pickering Laboratories is publishing an updated Chromium 6 method demonstrating definitive yet easy analysis.
Pickering Lab’s technical liaison director Laszlo Torma is a member of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) laboratory committee. The work of the committee and collaborating with AOAC has resulted in new methods for analysis of Mycotoxins in many herbal products including ginger, ginseng, Echinacea.
Come to Booth 1767 at Pittcon to see and hear about the exciting work going on at Pickering Laboratories.

Pickering Laboratories Introduces Key Products to Herbal Supplements Market

By Mike Gottschalk

The Supplyside West Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada October 19-23, is a very important Herbal Supplement Industry event. It provides important educational and networking opportunities to this $29 billion market. Since the FDA sent out required current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) in 2007, the Herbal Supplement producers are working to meet the new requirements before the FDA audits. These regulations are intended to insure the quality, purity and safety of the Herbal Supplement products available today. Pickering Laboratories had a booth at the show to assist the producers and laboratories with the instrumentation, chemistry, methods, and support for the analysis and clean-up of samples for Amino Acids, Aflatoxins, Carbamate pesticides, Glyphosate Herbicides, and 23 other methods.

Click on the links to see our Latest Method Abstracts, introduced at the show:
1) MA 215: Clean-up and Determination of Alfatoxins in Peanuts and Peanut Butter 

2) MA 218: Clean-up and Analysis of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A in Herbs and Spices 


The annual meeting of the AOAC International in Orlando, Florida on September 20-25, also had a strong emphasis on Herbal Supplements testing. The AOAC organization is central to FDA efforts to provide analytical structure to testing methods for this newly regulated industry. Pickering Laboratories participated in the AOAC sponsored Single Laboratory Validation of Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis in Corn. For this work, Pickering Laboratories was awarded the “Single Lab Validation of the Year”. This pivotal work in the analysis of Mycotoxins continues in Herbal Supplements as well as agricultural products.

Send us an email to support@pickeringlabs.com to request a copy of our poster: “Clean-up and Determination of Alfatoxins in Peanuts and Peanut” from the AOAC show.

Our next show is Pittcon 2011 on March 13-18 in Atlanta, Georgia.

See you there!

ACIL Annual Meeting, San Diego, California

The American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) show in San Diego, California on October 9-12, was a new opportunity for Pickering Laboratories to introduce ourselves to the principals of these independent laboratories during their annual networking meeting.

The meeting was a great opportunity to visit with existing customers, but also to make new contacts in the Environmental testing industry. At the meeting we had information on our mainstay applications and also presented our new GPC Cleanup Instruments and other new products to prospective customers.

Rebecca Smith reports that the meeting was a success in terms of networking, scientific and educational talks.

Our new Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) line continues to perform well. We have both automated and manual GPC cleanup systems and we also have systems that include concentration & solvent exchange. Sample cleanup using GPC is especially useful for fatty matrices, but also perfect for vegetable matter and spices, as well as soil & waste water.

Our next show is Pittcon 2011 on March 13-18 in Atlanta, Georgia.

You can read more about the ACIL at their website: www.acil.org

NIST/NIH Dietary Supplements Quality Assurance Program Workshop

By Wendy Rasmussen

Natural products industry is under increasing pressure to increase analytical testing of raw materials and finished products. This not only includes contaminants (such as heavy metals, pesticides, and mycotoxins), but also identification and nutrition labeling.

The DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act) created the Office of Dietary Supplements in 2002. The Dietary Supplement Quality Assurance Program, is a collaboration between the NIH’s ODS and the NIST. The program consists of Exercises in which several samples are sent out to participating labs throughout the year, and the results are then analyzed in a report. This is a completely voluntary exercise, and it gives a laboratory a great opportunity to check their results against a certified value and also against those of their peers. Even though participation is not part of a regulatory certification, the choice to participate greatly increases confidence and credibility.

And since the NIST are working closely with the NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements, I asked the ODS if they could describe the relationship:

“The DSQAP is part of the ODS Analytical Methods and Reference Materials Program. We’ve been funding them to produce supplement matrix reference materials since about 2002. A few years ago, we discovered that NIST had QA programs for other commodities, and we thought that a dietary supplement program would complement the reference materials already being produced and added funding to the inter agency agreement we already had in place with them. While we are a funder for the NIST program, it could be described as more of a collaboration than a strict funding relationship. NIST pretty much matches our funding with internal funding. “

The NIST website http://www.nist.gov/mml/analytical/dsqaprogram.cfm also does a good job of describing the program in more detail. If you would like to participate in the DSLQAP, they would love to have more participants, just send them an email to the address on the above webpage.

This past September, the NIST hosted a workshop in Bethesda, MD which brought together participants from several sample exercises. This was a great opportunity for labs and companies to come together to discuss and learn. Pickering Laboratories participated in the most recent Exercises by analyzing Aflatoxin in peanut samples.

We used our Photochemical reactor (UVE) and our AflaCLEAN Immunoaffinity columns for the sample cleanup. The results can be found on our new application note and in a presentation given to the group at the workshop.

We gave a quick presentation to the group on Thursday morning, detailing our method and results. We would love to share our talk titled simply  “Aflatoxin Analysis”. Just send us an email to support@pickeringlabs.com and we’ll send you a copy!

The Photochemical derivatization of Aflatoxins has been shown to be a very rugged and sensitive method for analyzing low-levels of the toxins. And the Immunoaffinity columns can be used to cleanup a very wide variety of sample matrices. Indeed, there have been several publications showing the results using Photochemical Derivatization.

We are now distributing Mycotoxin Immunoaffinity products for Ochratoxin and Aflatoxin. The performance and batch-to-batch reproducibility of the columns is exceptional and far exceeds that of other manufacturers. The columns can be used for any matrix, from wine and juice, to nuts and grains, to herbs and spices. Contact Sales for more information.

Definition of Acronyms:
NIH – National Institutes of Health
ODS – Office of Dietary Supplements, part of NIH
NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology
DSLQAP – Dietary Supplement Laboratory Quality Assurance Program, formed by the ODS in collaboration with NIST
AHPA – American Herbal Products Association
AOAC – Association of Analytical Chemists

Laszlo Torma has also contributed a very nice piece about our Membership in the AHPA on our blog.

Special Alert: American Ale Takes 1st Place

In keeping with our company’s motto “Guaranteed Chemistry” our resident Technical Support Chemist, David Mazawa, brewed an American Pale Ale which won him the 1st place in the 2010 Reddit Homebrew competition. His beer was described as a nicely hopped beer that went well with a hot day.
So if you’re calling in with questions and you talk to David, be sure to Congratulate him. Who knows? If he’s feeling generous, he may share a bottle…


Photo of the 1st Place Trophy

Notice of Backwards Compatible Board for Pinnacle Users

The new Sigma Series Pinnacle PCX has rolled out with a lot of new features. A new Electronic Control Board is included to support many of these features. You will notice that the new boards are blue in color and have a USB connection replacing the RS-232 connection.

Customers with the older Delta Series Pinnacle PCX will have to purchase a backwards compatible board if they experience a board failure.

The backwards compatible board will have a slightly different relay connector to fit properly in the old chassis. The backwards compatible boards will have the most recent firmware, software, and also include a USB cable. Make sure to have your Pinnacle PCX Serial Number handy when ordering a replacement board.

Part Number

Description

Serial Numbers

1500-1507

Replacement board for Delta Series Pinnacle PCX

before 0510308

1500-1508

Replacement board for the Sigma Series Pinnacle PCX

after 0610300

David Mazawa

Technical Support Chemist
David.mazawa@pickeringlabs.com
(650)694-6700 x710

Polymers: To Eat Or Not To Eat

By Michael Pickering

The stationary phase in our amino acid columns is a polymer made of two monomers: styrene (vinyl benzene) and 1,4-divinylbenzene. If only styrene were used, the result is a thermoplastic substance, which is solid (glassy state) at room temperature, but flows if heated above its melting point. The divinylbenzene acts as a cross-linker by covalently connecting the linear polymer strands. The result is a spherical bead described as macro reticular, or big and tangled. Imagine a ball of string with some small strings knotted between two proximal intervals: polyethylene with one benzene moiety per unit. The mass ratio of cross-linker can be varied depending on the ultimate use of the bead. In our case, 8-12% is ideal.

At this stage, the bead is very hydrophobic. The final synthetic step to create a cation-exchange resin is to completely sulfonate the available phenyl rings. This provides the cationic-exchange functionality and allows for water to swell the bead, resulting in an accessible interior.


Mass transfer is osmotically controlled so the (w/w%) water in the interior is dependent on the cation in the mobile phase, i.e. Na (45%), Li (50%). For the same reason, higher normalities in the mobile phase also shrink the resin. The same hydrophobic polymer can be functionalized to create an anion-exchange phase (P-NR3X), a heavy metal scavenger (P-SH), et. al.

With a different set of synthons, chefs and mixologists worldwide are creating exciting and fun palate sensations. These edible experiments and discoveries are grouped under the umbrella of “Molecular Gastromy.”

One popular and successful idea produces hollow beads where the interior can capture and hold savory or sweet flavors and alcoholic beverages. The polymer employed is a common food thickener called sodium alginate, which is extracted from brown kelp and is water soluble. It is a linear polysaccharide with one carboxylate per unit. A bead spontaneously gathers on the surface when the sodium alginate solution is dripped into a solution of CaCl2.

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The divalent Ca++ ion acts as the cross-linker. Since it is not a covalent bond, merely ionicly linked by the Calcium, a skin forms as a flexible bubble rather than as a solid bead.


The captured ingredients, either as a slurry or as a solution, are added to the gelatinous sodium alginate solution. The bead size is determined by drop size. The most popular size now being served is usually described as caviar in appearance, but I have seen pictures of beads larger than a softball. The harvested beads are robust and so may be washed, dried, and stored. People who have experienced them describe it as a thrilling sensation when the flavor beads burst in their mouth.

The most recent news I’ve heard about edible structures was in the New York Times (September 7, 2010, page D3). Not spheres, but clear nano-crystalline cubes are made by cross-linking a cyclic polysaccharide, a monovalent metal cation, and ethanol. The nano-cubes cluster to form millimeter-scale cubes. Unlike the beads, however, the cubes require one week to harvest. The good news is that they require no attention during the wait. Similarly to the beads, all ingredients are readily available in food grade quality. The N.Y. Times article was reporting on the work of Professor J. Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University. The paper is to be published in the journal Angewandte Chemie this November.

The nano-crystals fall under a class of structures called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which are porous but rigid. The holding capacity is greater than half the volume. And as with the beads, the cubes can capture the solution they are formed in. Although in this particular case, the cubes do not form in acidic solutions.

Materials and Methods

Beads, sweet:
Mix:
1 cup pure water (tap water contains too much calcium)
¾ tsp sodium alginate
¼ cup any syrup, stir in last

Note: The polysaccharide dissolves slowly. It can be hastened by blending but then must be left to stand several hours for the bubbles to evanesce.

In the bead size desired, drop this solution into the following one.
Mix:
2 ¼ cups water
¾ tsp CaCl2

Cubes:
The following is adapted from the N.Y. Times article taken from the abstract about the Angewandte Chemie article.

A: 1 cup 190 proof ethanol

B: 2 ½ cups water
1 tsp gamma-cyclodextrin
1 tsp potassium benzoate
the flavor ingredient (Note: no alcohol or acids)
C: Sealable, airtight container, to scale


Assemble and set aside for at least one week. The cubes will form in the B solution and may be harvested and crunched.


Photos Credits:
Dessert and Cocktails photos taken by Amanda Lucier, of The Virginian-Pilot. Taken from HamptonRoads.com website

Sodium Calcinate “Caviar” photo taken from an article by Martin Lersch for Khymos

Guaranteed Chemistry