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Analysis of Aroma Compounds

Anatune

18th April 2024

Someone once said, ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, it’s hard to eat spaghetti..’, although perhaps a more famous quote is  “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”  

These quotes refer to an over-reliance on a familiar or favorite tool and raises the question – how many tools do you need?

Referring to tools for Aroma analysis, do you always reach for the same one? Have you thought about what other tools may be available? 

For instance, it can be tricky to decide what sample preparation to use for different sample types. The choice of sample preparation will depend on the levels of the compounds you are interested in (and therefore the enrichment required), and the matrix you are analysing – often what works for one sample type may not be appropriate for another. 

There are a number of options to choose from when looking at analysis of aroma compounds and the one you choose can have an impact on the information you obtain about your sample.  

Every approach has some bias or inherent selectivity, so the choice of sample preparation can be critical in obtaining the required information about your sample.  

  • What about chromatography – do you always use the same GC column and conditions?
  • What about an extra dimension – would GCxGC enhance the information further?
  • Would the ability to monitor aroma compounds in real time be a useful addition to your tool kit to help you understand a production process or measure the longevity of a fragrance in the air?  

Come and join us at our lab in Cambridge for a workshop and discussion on 11th June 2024.

Register your interest here >>

We will cover choice of sample preparation, the use of 2D GC and real time volatile analysis. 

We are delighted that we have guest speaker Neil Owen from Givaudan joining us for the discussions and giving us an insight into why 2D GC-MS has been embraced as part of their routine workflow for fragrance allergen analysis.

Neil has just completed 30 years in the Fragrance Industry working almost the entire time in the area of fragrance research and, for the last 10 years of that time, specifically in the Regulatory Affairs and Product Safety group in Givaudan, Here, he is the Head of the Product Safety Sciences Laboratory Centre of Excellence who undertake a wide and diverse set of analyses to ensure that fragrances are globally ‘fit for purpose’ in relation to local, Regional and Global regulations. Chromatography forms a cornerstone of almost all activities and his team have embraced 2DGCMS technology over the last 10 years to derive a ‘gold standard’ analytical package for Allergen analysis.
Prior to his time in the industry, Neil also managed an Organic Analysis laboratory for what is now the Environment Agency in Newcastle, monitoring everything from borehole, river and marine quality to industrial outlets from Teesside and industry on the Tyne and other Northumbria rivers. Before that he worked in consultancy for the Petroleum exploration business evaluating oils, gasses and borehole samples from prospective well samples for multinational customers.
The connecting thread throughout all this time has been GC – coupled with TCD; FID; ECD; PFPD and, of course, MS of a variety of types – often in tandem configurations. 2D GCMS is another step along that road of discovery.

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