COMBINED GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY IN FLAVOR RESEARCH - METHODS AND APPLICATIONS

Combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) is usually the most efficient approach to identification of volatile flavor components, but some fundamental limitations are imposed by the nature of the samples and by the method itself. Generally, only small quantities of material are available in natural aroma complexes, and ranges of amounts of individual components of the order of 1000:1 may be encountered. Careful selection of chromatographic columns and conditions is a major consideration. Limitations imposed by statistical variation of mass spectral patterns at the scan rates employed may make differentiation of closely related species impossible by mass spectral evidence alone. Chromatographic data may be useful in such cases. Classical chemical techniques may be modified to operate at the microgram level and can be effectively employed with GCMS analysis of reaction products. Applications of these methods in current studies of volatile components from bananas and wood smoke are described. The problems of data acquisition and processing are described in the context of the specialized requirements of flavor chemists. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.