New Strata® Melamine SPE Cartridges Cut Sample Preparation Time in Half

Phenomenex Inc., a global leader in the manufacture of separation science consumables, introduces Strata Melamine, a solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbent specially designed for food testing. Strata Melamine SPE cartridges simultaneously extracts both melamine and cyanuric acid, cutting sample time in half compared to all other methods. It is the combination of these two compounds that forms the deadly melamine cyanurate, which has been found in pet food, infant formula and dairy products. The Strata Melamine optimized method produces injection-ready samples for LC/MS or GC/MS analysis.

Phenomenex has been at the forefront of melamine analysis since the compound was first discovered in pet food about two years ago, resulting in thousands of animal deaths. When the FDA established the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN), it published an LC/MS/MS method for detecting melamine that used Phenomenex SPE and HPLC columns. Since that time, Phenomenex has been enhancing and expanding its products and methods for this application.

Phenomenex has also developed new, optimized LC/MS and GC/MS methods that work with Strata Melamine SPE cartridges to provide complete solutions. The LC/MS method uses the company’s Luna® HILIC (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) column to resolve cyanuric acid and melamine in less than three minutes. The Phenomenex LC/MS method is superior to previously recommended ion exchange chromatography methods because it does not require ion pairing agents. Customers report higher retention and superior peaks. The GC/MS method uses the new Zebron™ ZB-XLB-HT Inferno™ column and is an improved version of the FDA method, resulting in complete analysis in half the time.

“Strata Melamine SPE cartridges greatly simplify the extraction of melamine and cyanuric acid for any user,” said Terrell Mathews, product manager for Phenomenex. “You no longer have to buy two different SPE products and perform two different extractions just to do one analysis. This will result in significant time and cost savings.”

Strata Melamine is available in 200 mg/3mL and 100 mg/3mL SPE cartridges.