Fiber Harvesting
Sub-milligram harvesting extracts tiny fiber portions from finished garments without causing visible damage to the textile structure. Through micro-fragment sampling, technicians can collect authentic material from expensive, retail-ready jackets and sweaters. This technique allows for high-precision testing without destroying the product’s commercial value.
Specimen Integrity
Traditional testing requires cutting a large patch of fabric from the garment, which ruins the item for sale. By contrast, micro-fragment sampling pulls just a few loose fibers or single yarn loops from a hidden seam. This minimal collection provides enough protein material for liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
Forensic Application
Importers use this non-destructive method to audit high-end apparel shipped from overseas mills. If a batch of cashmere sweaters is suspected of being adulterated with cheap sheep wool, the inspector can sample multiple items from the shipment without causing financial loss to the importer. This makes routine audits of finished apparel economically viable, enabling brands to maintain a strong quality control presence without sacrificing their retail inventory to destructive laboratory testing.
Technical Procedure
The harvested fibers are placed directly into a reaction vial for enzymatic digestion. This direct treatment minimizes sample loss and contamination during the preparation steps. The resulting solution is then injected into the analytical system for peptide profiling, verifying the species of origin.
