Analytical Technique to Detect Vanilla Adulteration

 

Dr. Tom Hartman

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, NJ

 

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            This presentation will discuss analytical techniques for the detection of adulteration of vanilla.  Many techniques are focused on differentiation of vanillin produced from natural sources versus synthetic routes.  However, other means of potential adulteration such as addition of vanilla fortifiers/synergists not naturally occurring in vanilla to natural vanilla products or adulterants used to increase weight of vanilla beans will also be addressed.  Theory and practice of isotopic fingerprinting techniques such as 14C, 13C and 2H profiling using liquid scintillation counting, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (SIRA) and site-specific nuclear isotopic fractionation (SNIF-NMR) will be explained.  Conventional analysis techniques such as Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) including direct injection GC-MS, Direct Thermal Desorption-GC-MS (DTD-GC-MS) and Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) will be addressed and advantages and disadvantages of these methods will be discussed.  High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and HPLC-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS) will also be over viewed including new advances in Ultra-High Pressure HPLC (UHPLC) that offer more rapid analysis times.  The presentation will be illustrated with examples from the published literature and the authors on-going research program in vanilla chemistry.

 

Dr. Thomas G. Hartman is a Research Professor in the Rutgers University Department of Food Science and Director of the Food Innovation Center North (FICN, formerly the Center for Advanced Food Technology) Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. Dr. Hartman received a B.S. degree in chemistry/microbiology from Wagner College in 1980 and a Ph.D. in Food Science from Rutgers University in 1985.  From 1978 to 1980 he was employed as an analytical chemist for Stillwell & Gladding, Inc., a New York City based independent testing laboratory.  From 1980 to 1985 Tom was manager of the Rutgers University Food Science Department’s Mass Spectrometry Laboratory and for the Spectrometry facility.  During his tenure at CAFT/FICN he greatly expanded the instrumentation and capabilities of the facility especially in the area of industrial outreach.  

 

Professor Hartman and his graduate students conduct research in the area of food chemistry, packaging, polymers, natural products, pharmaceuticals, instrumentation design & development and analytical toxicology with a focus on mass spectrometry analytical techniques.  Dr. Hartman has served as a major advisor to over 40 M.S. and Ph.D. students and also mentors students at the undergraduate level.  He has over 200 publications and presentations, has chaired numerous symposia and has served on FDA and EPA task force and scientific advisory panels.  Tom is the inventor of the Short Path Thermal Desorption system and accessories which are licensed and commercially marketed worldwide by Scientific Instrument Services (SIS0, Inc. of Ringoes, NJ.  Tom and his coworkers at SIS have been awarded three patents for this invention and have commercially introduced an advanced, full automated, 

computer-controlled Short Path Thermal Desorption system called AutodesorbTM.  

 

For over 36 years, Dr. Hartman has owned and operated a consulting company specializing in analytical chemistry (Thomas G. Hartman, Ph.D., LLC).  Through his consulting company, Dr. Hartman has served as an analytical and technical consultant of companies and many government agencies worldwide.  He is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and various local subsections of these organizations.  Among other awards, in 1995 he was awarded the National Young Scientist Award by the Agricultural and Food Chemistry division of the American Chemical Society.  He received the ACS Pro Bono Award in 2005 for his long term commitment to ACS Project SEED, a summer internship program for economically disadvantaged high school students interested in careers in chemistry.   In 2015 Dr. 

Hartman was awarded the Rutgers University Food Science Alumni Special Recognition Award that honors a prominent career in Food Science and Technology that has had an impact in the form of innovations, patents, publications and other scientific and technological 

accomplishments.