Intact triacylglycerol profiles of fats and meats via thermal imprinting easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry

Thermal imprinting (TI) on a paper surface, using minimal solvent amounts, followed by direct analysis of the triacylglycerols (TAG) content via easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry (EASI-MS) is shown to provide a fast protocol to analyze TAG in meats and fats. The technique is simple, fast and eco-friendly requiring no hydrolysis, derivatization or chromatographic separation. The entire TI-EASI-MS protocol is performed in a few minutes and with minimal sample handling and solvent consumption. The TAG profiles obtained via TI-EASI-MS are shown to be quite similar to those obtained using GC and MALDI-MS analyses, and the imprinting and mailing of the imprinted paper in a sealed plastic bag is proposed for remote TI-EASI-MS analysis of meat and fat samples.