Nutrition analysis by nanoparticle-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry

We analysed the bioactive compounds in Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer by using nanoparticle-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (nano-PALDI) mass spectrometry (MS). To this end, we prepared manganese oxide nanoparticles (d = 5.4 nm) and developed a nano-PALDI MS method to analyse the standard ginsenosides and identify these ginsenosides in an extract of P. ginseng. The nanoparticles served as an ionisation-assisting reagent in MS. The mass spectra did not show any background interference in the low-m/z range. Our pilot study showed that the nanoparticles could ionise the standard ginsenosides and also respective lipid and ginsenosides in the extract without the aid of chemical and liquid matrices used in conventional MS methods. Analysis of the post-source decay spectra obtained using nano-PALDI MS will yield information regarding the chemical structure of the analyte.