High-throughput determination of flavanone-O-glycosides in citrus beverages by paper spray tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

A fast and accurate methodology for the quantification of the most abundant flavanone glycosides in citrus beverages has been developed. The approach relies on the use of paper spray mass spectrometry, which allows to record data in few minutes and without sample pre-treatment. The experiments have been carried out in Multiple Reaction Monitoring scan mode, in order to obtain the best specificity and sensitivity. The analytical parameters were all satisfactory. The results coming from the analysis of real samples were compared to the data obtained by the commonly used chromatographic method, proving the robustness of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Citrus beverages; Flavanone-O-glycosides; Paper spray ionization; Tandem mass spectrometry.