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The material of storage containers affects the shelf life and the chemical composition of food. Artisanal agave spirits, such as mezcal and bacanora, might be filled into low-cost plastic bottles that compromise product quality. We developed an analytical platform to identify the bottle materials of agave spirits, which employs 3D-printed cartridges, and the robotic platform Open LabBot/Open SprayBot for paper-spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS-MS). The bottle material of 102 fresh samples could be identified with a 2 % error. Samples stored for two years at −20 °C in glass vials still were classified correctly in 76 % of the cases. Therefore, the spirits still appear adulterated for a prolonged time after re-bottling into inert containers. The measurement time is about 30 s/sample. Thus, the 3D-PS-MS strategy can be applied for the high-throughput screening for bottle materials of agave spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

Newborn disease screening increases survival, improves quality of life and reduces treatment costs for healthcare systems. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an effective method for metabolic screening. However, conventional analytical methods require biofluid handling and cooling conditions during transport, making the logistics difficult and expensive, especially for remote regions. ’Paper-spray’ (PS) ionization generates a charged solvent spray from samples deposited on paper strips. Therefore, samples can be applied on a suitable matrix and shipped as dried spots to diagnostic laboratories with standard postal or messenger services. We built a robotic platform, the ’Open SprayBot’, to automatically analyze paper-deposited samples via PS-MS and increase the sample throughput. The system is operated via RUMBA32 and Arduino Mega boards. A commercial syringe pump and power supply provide solvent application and electrical current required for PS-MS. The usability of the Open SprayBot was demonstrated by quantifying palmitoyl-l-carnitine, a common biomarker in newborn screening.