AUTOMATIC THERMAL-DESORPTION IN GC AND GC-MS ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE FOOD COMPONENTS USING CONVENTIONAL AND CHIRAL CAPILLARY COLUMNS

The authors applied automatic thermal desorption to the analysis of vo latile food components by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-ma ss spectrometry. They analyzed food samples such as dairy products, ho ney, herbs, and spices. Samples with low water content could be desorb ed directly, but liquid samples required a purging step in which analy tes were trapped on a sorbent before on-line desorption. When the auth ors used a capillary column coated with a chiral stationary phase, the y were able to resolve several enantiomeric pairs that had interesting flavor properties without observable racemization. Their technique en ables the analysis of small samples and requires minimal sample prepar ation.