Comparison of Extraction Techniques for Volatiles in a Selection of Tea Samples

Martin Perkins

3rd January 2018

There are a number of techniques that can be employed for the determination of volatile and semi volatile analytes, most of which can be fully automated with the GERSTEL MPS platform. The determination of volatiles in food e.g. those present in tea can be critical in understanding product composition, linking to sensory data and consumer preference, or ensuring the safety and authenticity of the final product for the consumer. Samples of tea – dry, wet and brewed – were analysed by three techniques, Static Headspace, Dynamic Headspace (DHS) with a single Tenax trap and Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME) using mixed (DVB/Carboxen/PDMS) fibre on an Agilent 7000 GC-QQQ. The resultant chromatograms were compared and showed clear differences for both the matrix and analysis technique, indicating that the choice of sample preparation/extraction can be critical in obtaining the required information.