Release kinetics of actives from chewing gums into saliva monitored by direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry

Direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) was used to monitor the release kinetics of a taste-refreshing compound from chewing gums into the saliva of subjects. A new DART-MS sample probe was designed which was about four times more sensitive than the current benchmark probe. This decreased the impact of the dilution of the saliva samples that was required to minimize ion suppression effects and make quantitative analyses without an internal standard possible. The new probe was also about three times more reproducible, which allowed quantitative measurements to be conducted manually without requiring the enhanced precision provided by an automatic sample positioner. The accuracy of analyses performed by DART-MS was verified by comparing the results obtained from saliva samples analyzed both by DART-MS and by a more classical liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method. This investigation showed good agreement between the two techniques. DART-MS could then be used to objectively demonstrate the efficiency of a granular carbohydrate-based delivery system to boost for a few minutes the release of a lipophilic flavor raw material with a high octanol/water partition coefficient, cyclohexanecarboxamide, N-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl) (WS-3), from chewing gum into saliva. Copyright. (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.