Abstract
Static headspace gas chromatography is one of the most frequently used techniques for the analysis of flavor components in foods and beverages. Although the technique has many advantages over other methods, one of its major drawbacks is low sensitivity for substances of intermediate and high boiling point. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of salting-out on the sensitivity of static headspace gas chromatography (SHS-GC) and static headspace solid phase micro extraction gas chromatography (SPME-GC) for flavor components in foods and beverages. In the present study, we analyzed flavor components in La France pear juice and in an aqueous solution containing alcohols and esters by SHS-GC and SPME-GC after salting-out with saturated sodium chloride. We then analyzed the differences in detection sensitivity obtained with and without using a salting-out procedure during sample preparation. The detection sensitivity for almost all flavor components in both samples was improved by the addition of sodium chloride. The improvement in detection sensitivity by the addition of sodium chloride tended to increase as the molecular weight of the alcohols increased and as that of the esters decreased. In conclusion, addition of sodium chloride was extremely effective for improving the sensitivity of detection of flavor components by SHS-GC and SPME-GC.
