NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is primarily used by RIKILT to identify the components present in various preparations of the Agricultural Inspectorate of the Ministry of Agriculture. This includes the contents of powders, liquids, used syringes and needles, and elements commonly found in fields and farms.
The procedure tests for the total composition of the sample and not a specific substance. To begin with, the contents are compared to some 700 references: If the response is negative, the procedure switches to isolation and further characterisation using NMR and MS.
A secondary application of NMR is in metabolomics. In this procedure, the profiles of the contents of agricultural products or cell systems are empirically compared to each other with the help of sophisticated software. Any interesting signals that are obtained this way are subsequently identified according to type of substance.
For more information, please contact Arjen Lommen.