A Novel Approach for the Identification of Chelating Compounds Using SEC-ICP-MS/MS and SEC-QTOF-MS with a Focus on Cadmium in Plant-Based Foods

Description

The shift from meat- to plant-based diets necessitates understanding of heavy metals in plantbased foods. Cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, poses health risks. Research gaps persist in cadmium
speciation, particularly its bioavailability and identification of cadmium binding compounds in
plant-based foods.
This research presents an innovative methodology integrating SEC-ICP-MS/MS and SEC-QTOF-MS,
for identifying Cd-binding compounds and simultaneous speciation analysis of multiple elements
in plant-based foods. Sulphur and phosphorous play crucial roles in binding cadmium and can be
used as markers for proteins and peptides. The presence of zinc, iron, and calcium might influence
the bioavailability of cadmium.
The extraction process for cadmium was optimized across seven different matrices with varying
protein content. This optimization yielded recoveries ranging from 2.3% to 72.3%, indicating
strong cadmium binding to some matrices. Two size exclusion columns, with an optimal
separation range of 600 kDa – 10 kDa and 7000 Da – 100 Da, were employed to separate the
extracted compounds and optimized based on chromatographic peak resolution and analysis
time. A 20% enhancement in resolution was achieved during the optimisation, with an analysis
time of 60 minutes. For ICP-MS/MS-detection, the signal of the six elements was optimized based
on the oxygen flow in the collision/reaction cell.
Clear differences in the cadmium binding patterns between different plant-based foods were
observed. The established methodology represents a significant advancement of cadmium
speciation in plant-based foods and can be applied in future bioaccessibility studies.

Period	13 Sept 2024
Event title	The 21st Biennial National Atomic Spectroscopy Symposium
Event type	Conference
Conference number	21
Location	London, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International