USE OF A PROGRAMMED-TEMPERATURE VAPORIZER FOR OFF-LINE SFE GC ANALYSIS IN FOOD COMPOSITION STUDIES/

A simple procedure is proposed for off-line supercritical fluid extrac tion and capillary gas chromatography using a programmed temperature v aporizer (PTV) injector. The independent control of flow and temperatu re of the supercritical fluid is achieved by means of a variable restr ictor (i.e., nozzle). The described system combines some advantages of the on-line coupling SFE/GC (high sensitivity and reduced sample hand ling) and the off-line approach (simpler performance and depressurizat ion outside the chromatographic column). The proposed procedure and th e solvent recovery, method used to collect the extracted analytes are applied to the analysis of the essential oil obtained from Rosmarinus officinalis L. Also, a comparative study with the extracts obtained by using the simultaneous distillation extraction technique (SDE) is pre sented.