Center For Designing Foods To Improve Nutrition

    Mass Spectrometry Unit

 

        

 

The Mass Spectrometry Unit houses a gas isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GIRMS) for the determination of stable isotope ratios of carbon (¹³C/¹²C), nitrogen (¹⁵N/¹⁴N), and hydrogen (D/H) in CO₂, N₂, and H₂ gas at environmental or low enrichment levels.

The GIRMS is equipped with multiple continuous flow inlets consisting of an elemental analyzer, a gas chromatograph equipped with combustion interface, and a breath gas analyzer. The continuous flow inlets allow the conversion and/or purification of organic materials (e.g. foods, soils, lipids extracted from blood plasma, etc…) into a gas (CO₂ or N₂) appropriate for stable isotope analysis

Announcements:

• CDFIN Call for Proposals Released Related Link

• Diane Birt, Interim CDFIN Director, appointed to Institute of Medicine's Food Nutrition Board.          Related Link

• CDFIN Summer Scholars Program Featured. Related Link

• ISU food scientist Ken Prusa (Professor in Charge of CDFIN's Sensory Evaluation Unit) has identified a characteristic of pork that may be as significant to the industry as leanness.            News release

• We are pleased to announce that Diane Birt, Distinguished Professor of Food Science and Nutrition, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition. Dr. Birt served as director of CDFIN from 1997 until 2002. As interim director, she will work with 100 affiliate faculty in 30 departments who conduct interdisciplinary research to improve human nutrition and health through new and traditional foods. The appointment is effective immediately.  (Read More)