Classification of Cola beverages on the basis of mass spectra measured by membrane inlet mass spectrometry

Classification of different cola drinks by membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) combined with different statistical computing methods is demonstrated. The spectra of cola drinks were measured directly using a single quadrupole mass spectrometer with a hollow fiber membrane inlet in standard MIMS and trap‐and‐release MIMS modes, and the spectra obtained were analyzed by principal component analysis and the mean pairwise difference method, and classified via the k‐NN classifier. The multivariate calculations showed that cola drinks from different manufacturers can easily be differentiated from one another although the spectra of all drinks are usually very alike with minor differences in the abundances of major ion peaks in the range m/z 50–199. The classification of drinks is rapid as a spectrum of one sample can be obtained in a few minutes.