The quantitative determination of volatile compounds of Chardonnay wines using HS-SPME-GC × GC/TOFMS along with the determination of odor activity value (OAV) and relative odor contribution (ROC) of volatiles are reported for the first time. The use of GC × GC/TOFMS for the analysis of Chardonnay wine of Serra Gaucha resulted in the tentative identification of 243 compounds, showing the superior performance of this analytical technique for this specific varietal wine, considering that the number of compounds usually separated by 1D-GC for this type of wine is lower. Furthermore, 42 compounds co-eluted in the first dimension and 34 of them were separated in the second dimension, while the others were resolved by spectral deconvolution (8), which indicates that the conventional 1D-GC/MS may result in misleading results. The calculation of OAV and ROC allowed the determination of the volatile compounds that presented the greater contribution to wine aroma. Ethyl octanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl butanoate, and beta-damascenone showed the highest OAV and ROC values, although other 43 compounds showed also potential to contribute to wine aroma. Figures of merit of the developed method were: accuracies from 92.4 to 102.6%, repeatability from 1.2% to 13.4%, LOD from 0.001 μg L −1 (ethyl isovalerate and hexanoic acid) to 2.554 μg L −1 (ethyl 3-hydroxybutanoate), LOQ from 0.003 μg L −1 (ethyl isovalerate and hexanoic acid) to 7.582 μg L −1 (ethyl 3-hydroxybutanoate).

Wine aroma is an important characteristic and may be related to certain specific parameters, such as raw material and production process. The complexity of Merlot wine aroma was considered suitable for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), as this technique offers superior performance when compared to one-dimensional gas chromatography (1D-GC). The profile of volatile compounds of Merlot wine was, for the first time, qualitatively analyzed by HS-SPME-GC×GC with a time-of-flight mass spectrometric detector (TOFMS), resulting in 179 compounds tentatively identified by comparison of experimental GC×GC retention indices and mass spectra with literature 1D-GC data and 155 compounds tentatively identified only by mass spectra comparison. A set of GC×GC experimental retention indices was also, for the first time, presented for a specific inverse set of columns. Esters were present in higher number (94), followed by alcohols (80), ketones (29), acids (29), aldehydes (23), terpenes (23), lactones (16), furans (14), sulfur compounds (9), phenols (7), pyrroles (5), C13-norisoprenoids (3), and pyrans (2). GC×GC/TOFMS parameters were improved and optimal conditions were: a polar (polyethylene glycol)/medium polar (50% phenyl 50% dimethyl arylene siloxane) column set, oven temperature offset of 10 °C, 7s as modulation period and 1.4s of hot pulse duration. Co-elutions came up to 138 compounds in 1D and some of them were resolved in 2D. Among the co-eluted compounds, thirty-three volatiles co-eluted in both 1D and 2D and their tentative identification was possible only due to spectral deconvolution. Some compounds that might have important contribution to aroma notes were included in these superimposed peaks. Structurally organized distribution of compounds in the 2D space was observed for esters, aldehydes and ketones, alcohols, thiols, lactones, acids and also inside subgroups, as occurred with esters and alcohols. The Fischer Ratio was useful for establishing the analytes responsible for the main differences between Merlot and non-Merlot wines. Differentiation among Merlot wines and wines of other grape varieties were mainly perceived through the following components: ethyl dodecanoate, 1-hexanol, ethyl nonanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl decanoate, dehydro-2-methyl-3(2H)thiophenone, 3-methyl butanoic acid, ethyl tetradecanoate, methyl octanoate, 1,4 butanediol, and 6-methyloctan-1-ol.

No abstract

Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection (GC×GC/TOFMS) was used to analyse the volatiles in five types of wines elaborated with grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir varieties. Fisher ratio, principal component analysis (PCA) and stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) were used to develop a discriminant model and, as a result, 12 volatile compounds enabled differentiation and classification of wines according to grape cultivars. A detailed examination of GC×GC/TOFMS data showed that the use of one-dimensional gas chromatography with a mass spectrometric detector (1D-GC/MS) would probably result in misidentification of some of these 12 compounds, as they showed partial coelution with other components in the first chromatographic dimension.

A procedure to monitor BVOC emitted by living plants using SPME technique is presented. For this purpose, a glass sampling chamber was designed. This device was employed for the characterization of biogenic volatile compounds emitted by leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora. After extraction with SPME fibers coated with PDMS/ DVB, it was possible to identify or detect 33 compounds emitted by this plant. A semiquantitative approach was applied to monitor the behavior of the emitted BVOC during 9 days. Circadian profiles of the variation in the concentration of isoprene were plotted. Using diffusion-based SPME quantitation, a recently introduced analytical approach, with extraction times as short as 15 s, it was possible to quantify subparts-per-billion amounts of isoprene emitted by this plant.