Introduction
Aroma profiles of food contain a wide variety of components at a range of concentrations. Detection and identification of keynote compounds with a low odour threshold and those responsible for off-odours is a challenging prospect, and one that demands a highly sensitive and selective detector, to maximise the prospects for analyte detection and identification.
The use of high-definition gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC–TOF MS) combined with thermal desorption offers an ideal solution for routine analysis. Fast acquisition speeds and low detection limits allow trace components, including adulterants, to be identified even within the most challenging of matrices. Thermal desorption (TD) can bring the added advantage of retaining part of the sample for re-analysis, which allows confident and secure repeat analysis, especially when combined with tagged TD tubes that reliably store and transfer valuable information on the provenance of each sample. An overview of this novel TD–GC–TOF MS system is presented using case-studies on aroma profiling of food products.
Thermal Desorption
TD is widely used in the food, flavour and fragrance industry to preconcentrate volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) prior to analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). TD works by passing an air/gas stream through a bed of solid sorbents, typically packed into a 3½″ × ¼″ sample tube. Analytes retained on the sorbents are released by heat and a flow of inert gas, and pass onto a narrower focusing trap, where the process is repeated to inject the analytes into the GC in a very narrow band of vapour.
TD provides enhanced sensitivity for a wide range of analytes, enabling comprehensive odour profiling of foods, beverages or cosmetics. Such analyses allow product quality, shelf life, or contamination issues to be assessed.
>> Download the full Application Note as PDF
Newsletters
Receive the latest pathologist news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.
