METHOD OF SENSITIVE ANALYSIS OF WINE HEADSPACE VOLATILES BASED ON SELECTIVE CAPILLARY COLUMN TRAPPING

A method of headspace analysis based on selective thin-phase capillary column trapping and gas chromatography with two separate columns is applied to wine volatiles. The analytes in the headspace are flushed into a narrow-bore trapping column(C(TR)) with helium and the retained compounds eluted back into the chilled front part of an analytical column (C(AN)) prior to analysis. The analytes are either retained completely in C(TR), or a controlled breakthrough is performed, depending on the aim of the analysis. Reproducibility of the analysis of partially trapped volatiles of an Australian Rhine Riesling wine is tested with 1000 mL of headspace at 25-degrees-C, and is introduced through a DB-1 C(TR) at 40-degrees-C and analyzed with a DB-1701 C(AN). Proportions of the 20 major "medium" volatile compounds on the chromatogram of replica samples ranging from 0.07 to 42.1% showed a relative standard deviation (RSD) between 2.9 and 42.6%, with an average of 13%.