New Products and Applications Unveiled at Pittcon

By Mike Gottschalk

This year's Pittcon in Orlando, Florida (Feb 28 - March 5) will be an exciting event for Pickering Laboratories when new instruments and applications will be rolled out.

Pickering Laboratories continues to bring new products and improvements to the analytical market with the new line of Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Mycotoxin, and Classic post-column derivatization products.

A new addition to the GPC line is the GPC Quattro; a manual GPC clean-up system that has 4 columns for simultaneous operations of 4 different applications or high throughput of the same applications.

Immunoaffinity column processing gets some help with the introduction of AcceCLEAN™; an automated system for Immunoaffinity columns holding 30 columns for unattended operation.

For the detection of Aflatoxin by photochemical reaction the UVE™ reactor is the best designed product available. Recognized for exceptional design and ease of use the UVE™ is fast becoming the leading product in this area.

A new Column protection system for Cation-exchange HPLC applications will be unveiled exclusively at Pittcon this year.

The new GARD™ manufactured by Pickering Laboratories is a substantial improvement over the standard packed guards. The new GARD™ adds little pressure, is invisible to the chromatography, and has substantially more capacity for strongly retained compounds that can foul the analytical column.




Photo: GARD and Holder



Amino Acid Analysis is faster than ever with 2 new columns for the Pinnacle PCX. The 30 minute sodium run and 70 minute lithium run provide exceptional separation and selectivity at faster run times.

New Post-column derivatization applications include Voglibose and Alendronic Acid to the family of Pickering Laboratories' validated methods. If Pickering Labs validates a method it is guaranteed to work!

Visit us in booth 2368 at Pittcon for full details.

SAFFRON - Crocus sativus

By Michael Pickering

Until the late 15th Century, selling inferior or adulterating authentic saffron was a punishable crime. Times have changed. In my neighborhood today, the price of saffron ranges from $1.50/oz (a Chinese medicinal, which is a mixture of saffron and safflower) to $1000.00/oz (certified organic, unit size 0.007oz, sold as a food commodity). At organic prices, moisture would be a significant adulterant. Buyers beware: I have also seen pure Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) pistils sold as saffron at $12.45/oz. The pure pistils are variously referred to as Mexican saffron, Portuguese saffron, or bastard saffron. Though safflower will produce the desired color, it is lacking the distinctive taste and smell of true saffron. Such egregious behavior surely would have warranted the death penalty in the Middle Age.

The North African Crocus is a lovely, lavender bloom in the fall. Each flower bears three outrageously large stamens which must be harvested by hand immediately upon blossoming. The stamens are bright red-orange when plucked and deep red to brown when dried. In trade, they are referred to as threads. Although saffron is cited as a medicinal in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, most peoples of the world prize the threads for their characteristic color and heady, aromatic spice qualities. The spice is considered the costliest in the world due to the laborious harvest and paltry yield (estimated at 13,000 stamens per ounce).

The following are singular dishes that cannot be prepared without saffron: Bouillabaise, Harira, Risotto Milanese, and Seafood Paella.

Since saffron has no ritual significance to me, nor am I royalty, the bulk Chinese variety suits my palate. I just use more to create the effect I want. My favorite personal recipe, using the bulk Chinese saffron, is as follows:

Poached White Fish with Saffron Infused Lime Sauce

White fish filletsThree peppercorns per filletCourt Bouillon:

- about 4 cups water
- one-forth cup Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
- one lime, juice and zest
- three green onions, chopped
- one stalk celery, thinly sliced including the leaves if possible

Sauce:

- Cointreau and lime juice, 1:1 ratio (if you want stronger lime flavor, add the zest too)
- Saffron 1/8 tsp. per fillet, ground in a mortar (if using certified organic saffron,
add three threads per four fillets)

Garnish:
- chopped green onions
- toasted pumpkin seeds

Using a heavy iron skillet large enough to accommodate the fish without touching, warm the peppercorns until aromatic. Add water and other bouillon ingredients. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Push aside solids and lay fish fillets flat on bottom of skillet - bouillon level in skillet should be even with tops of fillets. Bring back to simmer, cover skillet and turn off heat. Set aside for 15-20 minutes. Remove fillets and set on serving platter, pour sauce over fish, garnish and serve. Enjoy!

Photo (l to r): organic Saffron, Safflower, and Herbal mix containing Safflower and trace amounts of Saffron

New! GARD: Column Protection System

A new Column protection system for Cation-exchange HPLC applications will be unveiled exclusively at Pittcon this year.

The new GARD™ manufactured by Pickering Laboratories is a substantial improvement over the standard packed guards. The new GARD™ adds little pressure, is invisible to the chromatography, and has substantially more capacity for strongly retained compounds that can foul the analytical column.

The new GARD Column Protection System significantly prolongs column life without band spreading or added pressure. We will have a poster at Pittcon demonstrating, by means of a performance comparison for Amino Acid Analysis, that the use of a GARD will protect the analytical column more effectively than traditional guard cartridges, is more cost-effective for the laboratory, is easy to change, and most importantly has zero band spreading.

Chromatography Quiz No. 2

Congratulations to the winners of our last newsletter's Chromatography Quiz: Matthew Hartz, Jamie Palmer, and Keena Njoroge from Underwriters Laboratories, Sudheer Reddy from Chemtex, and Becky Canela from Environmental Laboratory Services!

They've each won, and will shortly be receiving from Gifttree.com, two dozen irresistible cookies in five flavors: White Chocolate Hazelnut, Snickerdoodle, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, and Chocolate Chip.

The correct answer for the modified Carbamates chromatogram: we reversed the two reagents. The OPA reagent was pumped in the Reagent One position, and the Hydrolysis reagent was pumped in the Reagent Two position. Thus 1-Naphthol, which is naturally fluorescent, appears full-sized. The other Carbamate peaks have different sizes due to their varying rate of hydrolysis - the high pH of the OPA reagent will allow for some but not complete hydrolysis prior to detection.

Chromatography Quiz: Amino Acid Analysis

Identify the error made when running the Amino Acids chromatogram below and win a prize! Simply email your answer and your full contact information to Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com by March 1st in order to win. The troubleshooting answer and winner congratulations will be published in the next issue (to be anonymous, please notify Rebecca in submission).

Amino Acid Analysis of Physiological Fluids:

Pickering Standard: 011006P Native Sample Standard 0.25 µmole/mL, 10 µL injection

Pickering Column: 0354100T High Efficiency Lithium Cation-exchange Column, 4.0 x 100 mm

Normal Operating Conditions: (for reference only, condition changes may be reflected in chromatogram)

Column Temperature: 36 °C

Flow rate: 0.35 mL/min

Eluent Gradient:



















Post-column conditions for amino acid analysis:
Reagent 1: Trione
Reactor 1: 130 °C, 0.5 mL
Reagent flow rate: 0.3 mL/min

Detection: UV-Vis Detector, 570nm for primary amino acids, 440nm for secondary amino acids
Hint: Assume in this case that both Guard and Analytical column are good. To see a standard Amino Acid chromatogram, click here