Quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the smoke from six woods and comparative study of their distribution

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered as undesirable molec ules in smoke. it is important to know the smoke composition applied to mea t-based products. PAH extracts of the smoke from five tropical woods were f ractionated, analyzed then compared to that of beechwood, a European wood c ommonly used in the smoking industry of meat-based products. The identifica tion and quantification of the aromatic molecules was carried out with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS).