We review the literature covering the evolution of amino acid, protein, lipid and carbohydrate analysis in food samples by electromigration techniques over the last 20 years.

This paper describes the development, evaluation, features and applications of Chromophoreasy, an alternative Excel-based program for recognition and integration of chromatographic and electrophoretic peaks. The proposed recognition is made according to parameters adjustable by the analyst, such as time range, noise smoothing window size and slope/curvature sensitivity. During integration, retention/migration time, area, height, half-height width, plate numbers, asymmetry factor, US Pharmacopeia tailing factor, resolution and statistical moments are determined. A chromatogram/electropherogram is plotted along with the found baselines. The effect of peak shape (heights and symmetries) and baseline slope over accuracy was evaluated and the precision of recognition/integration was investigated under several simulated conditions, with varied signal-to-noise levels, smoothing modes and smoothing window sizes. Data from liquid and gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and electrochromatography techniques with refractive index, flame ionization, capacitively coupled contactless conductivity (lab-made) and ultraviolet absorbance detections, respectively, were treated, illustrating the broad applicability of the proposed program for standard and sample analysis. Statistically similar results were obtained, when compared with other commercial software, showing it to be a simple, practical and reliable tool for general use in the separation area.

Recebido em 31/08/2015; aceito em 04/02/2016; publicado na web em 15/04/2016 Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.), a typical fruit of the Brazilian Cerrado, is an important source of micronutrients and fatty acids. In this work, a new approach for the acid digestion (using H 2 SO 4 , HNO 3 and H 2 O 2 ) of pequi oil samples and the determination of Cu, Fe, Zn and Mn by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F AAS) was employed. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was used for free fatty acid (FFA) determination after simple and fast extraction with heated ethanol. Good results regarding precision (RSD < 10%, in most cases), sensitivity and adequate LOD and LOQ values were obtained. The accuracy was evaluated using spike tests and the recoveries were from 97 to 107%. The analytes were investigated in four different pequi oil samples. Fe was the trace element with the highest concentration (from 1.99 to 10.3 mg/100 g), followed by Zn, Mn and Cu (1.15 to 3.19, 0.42 to 0.91 and 0.31 to 0.56 mg/100 g, respectively). The main FFA found were oleic acid and palmitic acid (1.61 to 10.7 and 0.82 to 2.69 g/100 g, respectively), while linoleic acid (0.50 g/100 g) was detected in only one sample. The pequi oil chemical composition showed good characteristics to be used as a food additive, in cosmetic formulations and for traditional medicine.

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