Program & Speakers

Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research - CIAL (CSIC-UAM). Madrid, Spain.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1811-0913

LC-MS and GC-MS have been employed as analytical tools to develop methods for food applications. However, foods are usually very complex matrices, and it is difficult to obtain complete separation and identification of all the analytes present in the sample. For this reason, new analytical techniques able to offer higher resolution power and confidence in the determination of the food profile are needed. Among these techniques, 2DLC can offer significant advantages in comparison to one-dimensional techniques since the sample is analyzed by two different but complementary separation mechanisms, allowing to obtain much higher separation power. Therefore, 2DLC can provide reliable and valuable information about contaminants, potential markers of origin, or potential health promoter ingredients.

Nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of a food product are important properties that the consumers are interested in. However, nowadays, other properties are increasing their importance when a product should be selected. For instance, the fact that a product is safe and free of contaminants, or the importance of products produced in a specific geographical region with characteristic qualities, or even products that enhance or promote the health of the consumers. Therefore, a big effort should be done to ensure all these valuable characteristics of food products.

In this regard, food safety, food authenticity, food traceability, and food bioactivity are four important branches in food analysis that can be responsible for obtaining the required information.

However, 2DLC is complex and has some limitations related to the compatibility of the two dimensions employed for the separation. Consequently, improvements in the 2DLC configuration are essential for increasing the power of this technique.

In this presentation, 2DLC applications for the mentioned food analytical branches as well as a new development for improving the performance of comprehensive 2DLC will be introduced.

(LSRE-LCM - Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto; ALiCE - Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto

https://lsre-lcm.fe.up.pt/person/46

Many pharmaceuticals are chiral, i.e., asymmetric 3D molecules with stereoisomers that can display a differing behaviour in chiral medium, as occurs in the interaction with natural macromolecules (e.g., enzymes, receptors, other binding-molecules). Therefore, enantiomers can present different pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic properties due to the different attachment to and dissociation from binding sites. Consequently, enantioselectivity can also occur in all biological processes occurring in the environment, different responses in terms of ecotoxicity being expected. Moreover, in the case of antibiotics, another environmental concern is the possible role of enantioselectivity on the development of antibiotic resistance in the environmental settings. This communication aims to highlight that although chirality is rarely considered in environmental studies, the knowledge on stereoselectivity in the environmental fate, distribution, (bio)transformation, (bio)degradation, ecotoxicity, and bioaccumulation is essential to provide a more realistic environmental risk assessment of chiral pharmaceuticals.

EPAL

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vitor-Cardosoc

Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the Parliament and the Council (16 December 2020) on the quality of water intended for human consumption, as well as the revision of the European Directive on environmental quality standards for surface water, will promote new challenges for Water Analysis Laboratories, as well as for Water Management Entities and Regulatory Authorities in each Member State.

The new drinking water quality parameters, as well as the introduction of new priority substances that will be introduced in the list of compounds to be monitored in drinking water and surface waters, will require new investments from water laboratories for the acquisition of more sophisticated analytical equipment in order to meet the requirements established by this legislation in terms of analytical thresholds.

The creation of a European Approval Scheme of Materials in contact with drinking water will require the development of new analytical methodologies for the search of organic compounds that might leach from materials into water, as well as the risk assessment associated with the use of these materials in water supply systems.

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A Diretiva (UE) 2020/2184 do Parlamento e do Conselho, de 16 de dezembro de 2020, relativa à qualidade da água destinada ao consumo humano, assim como a revisão da Diretiva Europeia relativa às normas de qualidade ambiental das águas superficiais vai promover novos desafios aos Laboratórios de Análises de Água, assim como às Entidades Gestoras de Água e às Entidades Reguladoras de cada Estado membro.

Os novos parâmetros de qualidade da água de consumo assim como a introdução de novas substâncias prioritárias que serão introduzidas na lista de compostos a monitorizar na água de consumo e em águas superficiais irão exigir dos laboratórios de água novos investimentos para a aquisição de equipamentos analíticos mais sofisticados de modo a cumprir os requisitos estabelecidos por esta legislação em termos de limiares analíticos.

Por outro lado, a criação de um Esquema de Aprovação Europeu de Materiais em contacto com a água de consumo irá exigir o desenvolvimento de novas metodologias analíticas para a pesquisa de compostos orgânicos que possam lixiviar dos materiais para a água, assim como a análise do risco associada ao uso desses materiais nos sistemas de abastecimento de água.

INESC-MN / IST-ULisboa

Microfabricated microfluidic structures with features with characteristic dimensions in the micrometer range are being developed for sensors, reactors, and cell-chips. Microfluidic structures can be explored for both analytical and preparative chromatographic applications. In this presentation, I will present our research in the following topics: (i) screening of chromatographic ligands; (ii) sample preparation for biosensing; and (iii) first steps towards the development of a portable chromatography-on-a-chip device

CIAL-CSIC

https://www.cial.uam-csic.es/pagperso/foodomics/gerardo_alvarez_es.html

To uncover the complex relationship between the chemical composition and the observed bioactivity of natural products, bioguided extraction procedures followed by untargeted LC/GC-HRMS/MS data-mining strategies were successfully implemented to characterize bioactive secondary metabolites from agri-food byproducts (e.g., procyanidins, terpenoids, crocins) as well as from valuable plants and algae (e.g., polyphenols, carotenoids and PUFAs). These natural matrices, were shown as promising sources of health promoting compounds with demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or anti-cholinergic properties under in-vitrobioactivity testing.

LAQV REQUIMTE

https://laqv.requimte.pt/people/1342-luisa_barreiros

During the last years, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) based techniques have become the method of choice for the targeted analysis of trace levels of bioactive compounds in biological matrices due to their inherent high sensitivity and selectivity. Most strategies rely on the coupling to a separative technique prior to MS/MS detection. The development of such methodologies presents many challenges that will be addressed in this presentation such as an adequate sample treatment, correct assignment of generated ions and efficient separation of target analytes from matrix interferences. Innovative strategies for sample preparation and hyphenation to MS detection will be also discussed.

Whereas a targeted approach allows the accurate quantification of specific molecules of interest, untargeted analysis permits the comprehensive study of all the molecules in a system and may provide valuable insights for the identification of unknown compounds, including health status indicators. The post-experimental data processing in untargeted metabolomics is demanding due to the vast amount of complex information generated. Chemometric tools may help in this challenging task and an example of their application to identify potential biomarkers of the health-to-disease transition will be presented.

Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Santo António

https://umib.icbas.up.pt/members/henrique-reguengo/

UMinho

https://www.cienciavitae.pt/C71E-042A-53DE

Generative models from Artificial Intelligence have been increasingly used in many areas to create new text, images or videos, just to name a few examples. In this talk, we will show that AI can also be a fundamental tool in the future to design novel compounds with desired traits, both including chemical properties and biological activities.

Hovione

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-gonçalves-24859294/?originalSubdomain=pt

The adoption of Quality by Design (QbD) principles and Analytical Procedure Lifecycle Management strategies to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical products has been applied and proposed over the last few years. These concepts focus on the use of systematic knowledge gathering as well as the application of science-based principles during the analytical procedure lifecycle to assure robust procedures that can reliable evolve based on the data collected throughout the application of the analytical procedure are deployed for routine use.

The analytical procedure lifecycle management is a concept that includes three pillars that must be observed during the analytical procedure development, from development up to routine application. The procedure design stage makes use of established and proven QbD concepts to collect the maximum amount of information of each variable and how do they interact with each other. During the procedure performance qualification stage, the performance characteristics of the analytical procedure are evaluated and the maximum variability for the reportable result is determined. By combining the information collected during the two initial stages a risk-based method evaluation is performed to determine the potential for method failures and a control strategy is devised to manage and reduce the risk of failure during routine work. The final step of the procedure lifecycle management is the continued method performance verification in which the procedure performance is continuously monitored to ensure its compliance with the procedure goals. These three stages work synergistically with the goal to increase method robustness, cost reduction, and decrease the risk of failures. 

This approach is clearly acknowledged both by regulators and industry as is part of the ICH Q14 and Q2(r2) guidelines for the industry demonstrating the importance of a systematic approach to procedure development with emphasis on understanding the performance of the analytical procedures and the impact of process changes in the reportable result.

In this talk the workflow and implantation path will be discussed with practical examples of applications to the development of analytical procedures for the analysis of pharmaceutical products.

National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mario-Barroso-2

Chromatography plays a fundamental role in forensic toxicology, serving as a powerful analytical tool for identifying and quantifying toxic substances in biological samples. Indeed, it is the science of separation, and it is used to isolate components from complex mixtures. 

Gas and liquid chromatography instruments coupled with mass spectrometry equip forensic laboratories nowadays, and enable accurately identifying and quantifying drugs and metabolites in several biological specimens, from the most common blood and urine to the unconventional oral fluid and hair samples. 

These techniques allow the efficient separation of the compounds of interest from endogenous interferences (e.g. proteins, lipids) and their detection. For most substances of toxicological interest, this detection is performed by mass spectrometry, as only this highly selective and sensitive technology is capable of unequivocally identifying the substances present in a sample, allowing obtaining forensically valid and sound results.

In this talk, practical routine cases will be presented and discussed.

LAQV/REQUIMTE | Department of Chemistry, FCT NOVA

https://novaresearch.unl.pt/en/persons/hugo-m-santos

Mass spectrometry (MS) has revolutionised the field of clinical diagnostics, particularly in quantifying blood and solid tumour proteins. This technology has been pivotal in enhancing the accuracy and specificity of various diagnostic assays. In a recent study, we employed the total protein approach (TPA) based on high-resolution MS to delve deeper into renal neoplasms, a group of tumours with shared characteristics that often pos diagnostic challenges. Utilising frozen tissue biopsies from various renal neoplasms and normal adjacent renal tissue as a control, we identified 205 differentially expressed proteins. A panel of 24 proteins, derived using the TPA, was pinpointed as potential biomarkers to differentiate these neoplasms. Notably, proteins such as PLIN2, TUBB3, LAMP1, and HK1 were validated using semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry, underscoring their diagnostic potential. This study exemplifies the power of high-resolution MS combined with TPA in advancing the pathology of renal neoplasms and suggests broader applications in clinical diagnostics. As we progress, the integration of MS in clinical settings promises to bridge the gap between research and its real-world applications, offering novel insights into disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.

University of Coimbra, Coimbra | ICETA, University of Porto | AL4AnimalS, Portugal

https://apps.uc.pt/mypage/faculty/uc45922

Ana Sanches-Silva is Assistant Professor at the Pharmacy Faculty of the University of Coimbra. Ana's research focuses on the evaluation of safety and composition of food and food packaging, development and validation of analytical methodologies for the analysis of food components and food contaminants, development of novel packaging, namely active packaging, bio and nano packaging, and study of food-packaging interactions, especially the migration from packaging to food. Ana Sanches-Silva has a remarkable track record (H-index 45, > 8000 citations, according to SCOPUS database) with more than 240 scientific publications, from these, 33 book chapters, 166 papers in international peer-review journals, 15 papers in national peer-review journals, 20 papers in conference proceedings and 8 publications in other international journals. She is co-editor of 8 books, namely for Elsevier, Springer and Bentham Science and she is co-author of 5 books of conference proceedings. Moreover, she has more than 400 abstracts published in conference proceedings, as oral communications or posters and she has presented 71 oral communications by invitation.  

She has received 16 awards, 1 honour and 11 scholarships, 2 from the Gulbenkian Institute. She is regular referee of a vast number of scientific journals with high impact factors in the Food Chemistry/Bromatology field and she makes part of the editorial board of several scientific journals. 

Ana is in the World Top of most cited scientists, according to the list of the World's Top 2% ranking Scientists 2021, 2022 and 2023. This list is compiled annually by Stanford University (USA) and presents the most cited scientists worldwide in their respective areas, according to the SCOPUS database, by the prestigious Elsevier publisher.

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Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) is a powerful analytical tool allowing the comprehensive analysis of bioactive compounds and contaminants in food. This communication explores the applications of LC-MS in the field of food analysis, focusing on its ability to simultaneously identify and quantify diverse classes of compounds. The versatility of LC-MS is highlighted in its capability to determine bioactive components, such as phytochemicals with antioxidant properties, contributing to a deeper understanding of the nutritional profile of various food matrices. Furthermore, LC-MS plays an essential role in the assessment of food safety by enabling the identification and quantification of contaminants, including pesticides residues and mycotoxins. The sensitivity and selectivity of LC-MS make it an indispensable tool for regulatory compliance and quality control in the food industry.

The communication discusses recent advancements in LC-MS methodologies applied to food analysis, including hyphenated techniques such as LC-MS/MS and high-resolution methodologies such as LC-ToF-MS (Liquid Chromatography coupled with Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry). Challenges and future perspectives in the implementation of LC-MS for food analysis are also addressed, emphasizing the need for standardized methods and expanded databases. In this line, the complexity associated with these methodologies is also demystified.

In short, LC-MS stands at the vanguard of analytical techniques for the across-the-board assessment of bioactives and contaminants in food. Its integration into routine food analysis protocols holds great promise to guarantee both food safety and quality, thus ensuring Public Health.

CICECO and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro

Ionic liquids (ILs) and Eutectic Solvents (ES) have been attracting a as alternative solvents, due to their greener and sustainable connotation when compared to conventional organic solvents, and their application has been explored in a myriad of domains. Among those, the extraction of bioactive compounds as well biomass fractionation into its macromolecular components as been widely studied.

We have been studying the use of ILs and ES to prepare extract bioactive compounds (e.g. phenolic compounds like hydroxymatairesinol- HMR, and triterpenic acids among other) with improved yields, and in some cases with the possibility of directly using the extracts for biological applications with improved responses.  Yet, the specific nature of these solvents raises specific challenges in terms of extraction processing and analysis

In the domain of biomass deconstruction into its macromolecular components (hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin) and their subsequent conversion/valorization, ILs and DES also show a high potential, as shown by several studies that we have performed on lignin degradation and in the extraction and conversion of xylans into added value compounds (e.g. xylitol and furfural).

In all cases the potential of these systems as well as the experimental and analytical limitations will be presented and discussed.