Chemical analysis laboratory

Laboratory activities:

• • testing of food products, food raw materials, grain, animal feeds for the following safety indicators: determination of toxic elements (cadmium, arsenic, plumbum, mercury), mycotoxins (aflatoxins, zearalenone, DON, ochratoxin А, Т2-toxin), residues of pesticides (chlor-organic compounds, organophosphorous compounds), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), benz(a)pyrene, nitrosamines, antibiotic and veterinary preparations, hormonal drugs, impurities, contamination and pest infestation;
  • testing of food products, grain and feeds for the following quality indicators: determination of macro- and microelements, vitamins (group В, А, С); cations and anions in water and beverages; mass fraction of fat, protein, moisture, mass fraction of residual dried skimmed milk in dairy products; mass fraction of crude fiber, crude fat, crude protein, crude ash, moisture, starch, urea, phosphorus, nitrates, nitrites, chlorides in grain and feeds (including those of animal origin); aminoacid composition of feeds; mineral impurity in grain and grain products, etc..;
  • testing of food products, food raw materials, grain, animal feeds for sensory criteria: product appearance, colour and  appearance of a cut, odour (flavour), consistency, taste, etc.;
  • detection of adulterations of dairy products:

• • determination of  fatty acid content  of fat in dairy products;
  • determination of sterol content of fat in dairy products (determination of presence of nondairy fats);

• • detection of adulterations of honey:

• • determination of diastatic number;
  • determination of mass fraction of carbohydrates (sugars);

• • biochemical analysis of animal blood serum:

• • assessment of protein metabolism (total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, urea, uric acid, creatinin);
  • assessment of carbohydrate metabolism (glucose);
  • assessment of lipid methabolism (triglycerides, cholesterin);
  • assessment of enzyme activity (alkaline phosphatase, lactic dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase (АLT), aspartate aminotransferase (АSТ), creatine kinase, amylase (diastase));
  • assessment of water-electrolyte and  mineral metabolism (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, ferrum, chlorides);

• • implementation of state orders on monitoring of quality and safety of food products; laboratory testing of raw materials, animal products, feeds and biological materials for food products quality and safety assurance; testing of quality and safety of grain, groats, compound feed and components for their production;
  • participation in interlaboratory national and international comparative trials (FGBI «Federal Centre of Quality and Safety Assurance for Grain », FGBI «CSMVL», FGBI «VGNKI”, FАPAS (Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme).

The laboratory has modern and high-technology equipment necessary to carry out wide range of tests:

• • atomic absorption spectrometers with electrothermal («Kvant-Z.ETA») and flame («Kvant-2АТ») atomization («KORTEK», Moscow) are used for determination of toxic  elements (cadmium, arsenic, plumbum, mercury). Determination of mercury is carried out by cold vapour method with atomization in a quartz cell. This equipment allows to determine other micro- and macroelements used for enrichment of compound feed and feed additives;
  • use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer «ELAN DRC II» («PerkinElmer», USA) enables to perform full elemental analysis of any kinds of samples (after acid decomposition) within a few minutes;
  • modern gas-liquid chromatograph  with mass spectrometric detector «Clarus SQ8 T» («PerkinElmer», USA) is used for detection of pesticide residues (chlor-organic compounds, organophosphorous compounds). This equipment allows to perform highly sensitive identification of a wide range of toxic substances in different kinds of products and raw materials;
  • use of systems of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array and fluorometric detectors «Flexar HPLC System» («PerkinElmer», USA), «Agilent 1200 Series» («Agilent») and  quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics,Germany) enables to determine  benz(a)pyrene in sausage products, smoked meat products and food grain; vitamins of groups В, А, Е in premixes  and feed additives; antibiotics (tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, sulfilamides, chloramphenicol, etc.) and mycotoxins in food products and feeds;
  • gas chromatographs «Chromos GC-1000» («Chromos», Russia) and «Kristall 2000М» («Khromatek», Russia) with flame ionization detector enable to detect adulterations of dairy products (e.g. butter). Correlation of mass fractions of fatty acid methyl esters and sterol fractions of fat in products play a critical role. Such test enables to detect products containing vegetable fats;
  • automatic clinical chemistry analyzer «BioChem FC-360» («HTI Medical», USA) is used for biochemical testing of serum for more than 20 parameters (such as АLТ, АSТ, total bilirubin, total protein, amylase, alkaline phosphatase, etc.). High performance of the analyzer allows to  shorten the time from receiving the sample to  giving out test results;
  • capillary electrophoresis system «Каpel-105М» («Lumex», Russia) is used for determination of compliance of cation and anion content in drinking, natural and waste waters with the requirements of SanPin and GOST. This system is also used for determination of amino acid composition of feeds, compound feeds and feed raw materials, and allows to determine their nutritive value.

Laboratory personnel carries out active work for updating of existing methods and introduction of new methods for preparation of samples of grain, feeds and food products for determination of  residues of different kinds of xenobiotics. It allows not only to reduce analysis time, but also to reduce costs and to improve environmental laboratory operations.

Screening analysis allows to perform rapid monitoring studies of livestock production originating from the farms of the Vladimir and neighbouring Oblasts. Up-to-date, accurate and highly sensitive equipment allows to obtain reliable results and to satisfy all the demands of the Testing Center’s clients.

Laboratory staff takes part in Russian and international scientific conferences devoted to analytical chemistry testing of food products.

Prospects for the development of the Chemical Analytical Laboratory:

• confirmation of technical competence by the Federal Accreditation Service (RosAccreditation) and  the Slovak National Accreditation Service (SNAS) in the framework of the international accreditation;
• learning to use new methods, expansion of the laboratory’s scope of accreditation;
• technical consultations (training) provided by the laboratory;
• advanced training of the personnel (defense of candidate thesis, participation of the personnel in research and training seminars and conferences, visits to exhibitions which have relevance to laboratory’s  research area or scientific projects).
• Implementation of scientific research.

Chemical Analytical Laboratory uses the following equipment for testing: