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Application Note: Beverage flavour analysis by Thin Film(TF)-SPME-TD-GC/MS

Flavours define a beverage product and are routinely monitored for quality assurance and control purposes or analyzed to determine key flavour compounds and ingredients used.

The analysis may also be urgently required following off flavour or odour incidents and complaints. Flavours and off flavours span a large number of compounds across wide ranges of concentrations, polarities, and functional groups, complicating the analysis. Extraction techniques, such as TF-SPME which are simple, use little or no solvent and encompass a wide range of analytes are desirable. In combination with Thermal Desorption-GC/MS, extremely low limits of determination can be achieved, addressing most flavour analysis requirements. This work demonstrates successful determination of flavours in almond milk, black tea, strawberry banana juice, amber lager, and pumpkin ale. Different polarity TF-SPME phases are used in combination with PDMS-based Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) for expanded extraction capacity. Extracted analytes are subsequently determined in one combined TD-GC/MS run.