title: Evaluation of a benchtop cryogen-free low-field ¹H NMR spectrometer for the analysis of sexual enhancement and weight loss dietary supplements adulterated with pharmaceutical substances.
abstract: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a unique tool for detection, structural characterization, and quantification of compounds in complex mixtures. However, due to cost constraints, NMR is rarely used in routine quality control (QC) analysis. The recent release of benchtop cryogen-free low-field NMR spectrometers represents a technological break in the NMR field. In this paper, we evaluated the potential of a benchtop cryogen-free 60 MHz spectrometer for uncovering adulteration of "100% natural" sexual enhancement and weight loss dietary supplements. We demonstrated that the adulterant(s) can readily be detected in ≈20 min of recording after a very simple and rapid sample preparation. We also showed that the quantification by the internal standard method can be done on the low-field NMR spectrometer and leads to results similar to those obtained with high-field NMR. Considering the cost and space efficiency of these spectrometers, we anticipate their introduction in QC laboratories as well as in governmental agencies, especially in the field of fraud detection.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de RMN Biomédicale, Laboratoire de Synthèse et Physicochimie de Molécules d'Intérêt Biologique UMR CNRS 5068, Université de Toulouse , 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Guilhem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pagès
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerdova
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gilard
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malet-Martino
mesh_terms: D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D011522:Protons; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011522:Protons