The Relationship Between Gerhardt & Xylem Lab Solutions
Xylem is proud to be the exclusive distributor in North America for Gerhardt products. C. Gerhardt is one of the leading global suppliers of laboratory equipment and analytical systems for food, animal feed, and environmental testing. They supply a variety of industry sectors that require accuracy, reliability, flexibility, and continuous attention to service, which are essential to their business operations. That is what C. Gerhardt has stood for since 1846.
The laboratory brands of Xylem have an illustrious history of innovation which includes the introduction of the world’s first portable refractometer (1935), the invention of the glass electrode in 1936, the first commercial heart-lung machine (1956), the introduction of PC-controlled titration (1988), and the development of a Total Organic Carbon Analyzer for the International Space Station (2008). These instruments and many more were developed to provide solutions that would benefit our customers and our communities.
With these innovations, we support various industries, including food & beverage, environmental laboratories, petroleum, specialty chemicals, and more.
Xylem Lab Solutions strives to provide our customers with state-of-the-art instruments through our brands and strategic partnerships, like the one we have with C.Gerhardt Analytical Systems.
Our Portfolio
Nitrogen & Protein Determination
Nearly all food, for animals and humans alike, contains nitrogen/protein. The amount of protein in a sample is determined by the percentage of nitrogen, which is a crucial parameter in concluding the quality and price of a specific product. Protein and nitrogen analysis is vital to these respective industries. Regulations by the FDA require the protein content to be declared on labels for both human and animal products.
C. Gerhardt offers two methods to measure protein and nitrogen in food and animal feed. One is the method of Johan Kjeldahl, which is the standard in the industry. This method is adaptable for various food, feed, soil, and water analysis applications. Furthermore, this method is highly precise and is the only option for some inhomogeneous samples that are high in weight. C.Gerhardt offers the Classic Digestion Apparatus for the manual Kjeldahl digestion process and the automated systems with the KJELDATHERM block digestion system, the VAPODEST distillation system.
The other is the method of Jean Dumas, which is a combustion analysis method where the sample is oxidized in a controlled manner, and the subsequent gaseous samples are further analyzed. This is done by C. Gerhardts’ DUMATHERM combustion analyzer and reduces the analysis time from hours to 3 minutes or less.
Total Fat Determination
There are five critical factors in evaluating food quality: water, protein, fiber, sodium, and total fat. Fat content is also essential when assessing animal feed and is measured as crude fat using the Weende analysis. Like protein analysis, this parameter is used to decide the quality and price of the product. The processing industry monitors the fat content in raw materials and finished products as part of quality control. In the environmental sector, the fat content in water and sewage is measured to evaluate the body of water.
All fat analysis is done employing an extraction, but some samples, like in the animal feed industry, need a pre-digestion with acid. This method is known as the Weibull-Stoldt/Weibull-Berntrop method, where the sample is digested with hydrochloric acid under heat before filtration and extraction with petrol ether. The sample is dried and weighed, and the fat content is calculated by taking the initial sample weight and subtracting the output weight. C. Gerhardt’s HYDROTHERM automatic acid hydrolysis instrument was designed to fully automate this complex and hazardous method.
The Soxhlet method can be utilized if the sample is more common and only requires solid/liquid extraction with a lipophilic solvent. The classic Soxhlet method is a manual extraction procedure that is laborious and requires several hours to complete. The C. Gerhardt’s SOXTHERM offers rapid extraction through its automated system for up to 24 samples simultaneously.
Plant Fiber Analysis
Animal feed is particularly reliant on optimal fiber content. Fiber content is crucial to animal feed because it influences the quality of the product and animal health.
Fiber content determination is essential for animal feed.
The proportion of vegetable fibers significantly influences the usability of the feed and animal health. The method used to determine vegetable fiber replicates the digestive process in an animal’s stomach. This enables the assessment of the quality of the product based on qualitatively and quantitatively differences in fiber fractions that have been determined.
C. Gerhardt offers customers an innovative and automated filtration method to determine any fiber fraction of interest, including crude fiber, ADF, NDF, and ADL fractions in feedstuff. The FIBERTHERM utilizes FiberBag-Technology developed by C. Gerhardt, which avoids the common problems in classic filtration like using frits and filter beds. With FIBERTHERM’S automated process, sample handling and digestion are streamlined to ensure accurate and reliable results. The FiberBag method utilizes a large filter bag made of a high-precision specialty textile that provides standardized filtration conditions for both digestion and filtration.
Steam Distillation
Distillation is one of the classic methods of substance separation. This method has seen advancements in subsequent methods, like steam distillation, which provides improved accuracy and reproducibility for the same samples. Numerous industries capitalize on the ability of these substances to be separated utilizing steam to determine the quality and quantity of the substances of interest.
Steam distillation is widely used in various industries, including food, beverage, environmental, and specialty chemicals. This method is used to identify several different components in samples like nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, volatile acids, vicinal diketones, ammonium, cyanide, and formaldehyde, to name a few. Some of these compounds are even regulated by governing bodies like the US Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
Each of these industries must monitor at least one or several of these parameters, which can be accomplished with steam distillation.
C. Gerhardt’s VAPODEST distillation system provides users with a safer and more automated way of doing steam distillation than classic manual methods. The VAPODEST ® is the highest protection for the user and the surrounding work environment. The VAPODEST was designed with longevity in mind, combined with low operating costs, which will save you money.
