OpenChrom – new release (0.8.0) – different mass spectrometers – one software solution
The open-source software OpenChrom allows the evaluation and visualization of chromatographic and mass spectrometric data. It is online since the beginning of 2010 and has been downloaded so far more than 20.000 times. Each year two new releases are published including new features. Its concept is focused on high flexibility and expandability via plug ins, so that also users can implement additional plug ins to suit their needs. A remarkable highlight of the software is that it natively supports a high number of vendor formats. At present the core focus of the tool lies on nominal mass MS data, but the support of other applications (e.g. MS/MS, accurate MS, FID) is continuously implemented. The release of the new version 0.8.0 „Dempster“ of the open-source software OpenChrom offers numerous new features for the users. Next to the native import of further data formats a support for quantification of components is introduced which will be extended in future releases. Additionally, an improved visualization of tandem mass spectrometric data has been implemented. Another new feature to mention is the ability to locally subtract user-defined background or adjacent signals to improve component identification. By means of plug ins the functionality of the software platform can be increased further which may include additional data processing filters, connectors to other software solutions or reports tailored for the user. These supplements can be contributed by users or provided by the OpenChrom developers. The commercially available plug ins ChromIdent®, MultiScanIdent® and PeakIdent® allow setting up user-specific databases to facilitate identification and comparison of samples and components. Worth to highlight is the plug in ChromIdent®: databases for complete chromatographic fingerprints can be established and e.g. utilized to elucidate the composition of unknown complex mixtures or the similarities between samples. This may be of interest to analysts of the fragrant, flavor or polymer industry and could aid quality control. The plug in MultiScanIdent may be particularly useful to categorize samples measured with direct-insertion mass spectrometry. With OpenChrom we aim to procede towards the limits of what is technically possible. For the next releases many more features are on the agenda including peak deconvolution, support of further detectors (FID, DAD, etc.) and refinement of the MS/MS functionalities. If you seek assistance on data evaluation, need a solution for an unusual workflow or are interested in collaboration, feel free to contact us. OpenChrom 0.8.0 “Dempster” is available for download at http://www.openchrom.net .
