FAST SCREENING METHOD FOR WINE HEADSPACE COMPOUNDS USING SOLID-PHASE MICROEXTRACTION (SPME) AND CAPILLARY GC TECHNIQUE

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to capillary gas chromatogr aphy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for determination of volatile wine components. This combination offers a simple, quick, and sensitiv e approach suitable for characterization of wine aroma compounds witho ut a complicated sample preparation procedure. Wines are characterized by ''aromagrams'', a set of identified components with corresponding relative abundances. Reproducibility (RSD errors of relative peak abun dances) due to the analytical procedure are ca. 4%; variations among d ifferent samples of the same type of wine from the same region are ca. 8%. SPME-GC(-MS) has been shown to yield far larger differences among different wine types (Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, and Tramini) and am ong the same type of wine produced in different regions, showing the u tility of the technique in wine analysis.