Selective extraction of phospholipids from dairy products by micro-solid phase extraction based on titanium dioxide microcolumns followed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis

A new micro-solid phase extraction (mu-SPE) procedure based on titanium dioxide microcolumns was developed for the selective extraction of phospholipids (PLs) from dairy products before matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis. All the extraction steps (loading, washing, and elution) have been optimized using a synthetic mixture of PLs standard and the procedure was subsequently applied to food samples such as milk, chocolate milk and butter. The whole method demonstrated to be simpler than traditional approaches and it appears very promising for a rapid PLs screening and characterization also in biological matrices.