ABSTRACT
Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most powerful techniques for food analysis because of its high resolution and/or fragment ions information. As a kind of ion source, direct analysis in real time (DART) possesses various merits. DART can be used in analyzing liquid, solid, and gas samples consisting of either polar or nonpolar compounds. Moreover, DART allows rapid introduction of analytes into MS with a minimal or even without sample preparation in most cases. DART is a mass spectrometric atmospheric pressure ion source. The working principle of the DART ion source is that a gas flows through an enclosed chamber and generates ions, electrons, and excited-state neutral species. DART has been used for a multitude of applications because of its introduction as a readily available commercial product with the versatility in ionizing a wide range of chemicals without the need of extensive sample preparation.
