Targeted lipidomics coupled with machine learning for authenticating the provenance of chicken eggs. (1st June 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chin, Sung-Tong; Hoerlendsberger, Gerhard; Wong, Kok Wai; Li, Sirui; Bong, Sze How; Whiley, Luke; Wist, Julien; Masuda, Reika; Greeff, Johan; Holmes, Elaine; Nicholson, Jeremy K.; Loo, Ruey Leng
• Is Part Of: Food chemistry. Volume 410(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-06-01
• Subjects: Authenticity -- Lipidomics -- Ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry -- Chemometrics -- Machine learning -- Eggs; Food -- Analysis -- Periodicals; Food -- Composition -- Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.135366
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-8146

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: A simple lipid extraction of chicken egg yolks was developed for LC-MS/MS analysis. 937 lipid species from 20 major lipid subclasses were characterized in egg yolk. Statistical modeling was used to classify the types of conventional chicken eggs. Cage, barn, and free-range eggs can be differentiated based on lipid profile. Eggs from caged birds can be accurately predicted based on the lipidomic signature. Abstract: Free-range eggs are ethically desirable but as with all high-value commercial products, the establishment of provenance can be problematic. Here, we compared a simple one-step isopropanol method to a two-step methyl- tert -butyl ether method for extracting lipid species in chicken egg yolks before liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. The isopropanol method extracted 937 lipid species from 20 major lipid subclasses with high reproducibility (CV < 30 %). Machine learning techniques could differentiate conventional cage, barn, and free-range eggs using an external test dataset with an accuracy of 0.94, 0.82, and 0.82, respectively. Lipid species that differentiated cage eggs were predominantly phosphocholines and phosphoethanolamines whilst the free-range egg lipidomes were dominated by acylglycerides with up to three fatty acids. The lipid profiles were found to be characteristic of the cage, barns, and free-range eggs. The lipidomic analysis together with the statistical modeling approach thus provides an efficient tool for verifying the provenance of conventional chicken eggs.