Low‐cost FloPump for regulated air sampling of volatile organic compounds

Abstract

Premise We present a low‐cost, battery‐operated, portable pump, “FloPump,” which allows regulated air sampling for the study of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are routinely investigated in applications such as atmospheric chemistry, agriculture, and fragrance biology. Methods and Results We compared the performance of FloPump with the Supelco pump in collecting VOCs using two test samples: guava fruit (Psidium guajava) and a perfume. The sampling and identification of volatiles was carried out using a dynamic headspace sampling method followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. We show that the sampling efficiency of FloPump is comparable to the commercial pump, and at an affordable cost of ~US$115 (~86% cheaper), it provides a viable option for researchers interested in sampling volatiles on a constrained budget. Conclusions Accurate air sampling is critical for the study of VOCs. We propose that FloPump will make air sampling more affordable, thus encouraging studies of VOCs.

Conducting botanical research with limited resources: Low‐cost methods in the plant sciences

“…Other cost‐effective methods that are presented here include a simple density‐based protocol for separating seeds with different oil contents using salt solutions (Dean et al., ), development of mini‐rhizotrons built from CD cases for examining root phenotypes and root‐associated symbioses (Cassidy et al., ), a method to measure cyanide release from cyanogenic plants (Smiley and Morrison, ), a technique to extract xylem sap from drought‐stressed or bacterial wilt–infected tomato plants (Longchar et al., ), and a protocol to build a pump for sampling volatile organic compounds (Saryan and Gowda, ).…”

Recent trends in the chromatographic analysis of volatile flavor and fragrance compounds: Annual review 2020

“…It was found that the sampling efficiency of the low‐cost FloPump (ca. 86% cheaper than the Supelco pump) was comparable to the commercial alternative 43 …”

“…Moreover, it could be determined that the classes of chemicals associated with these differences are linear aldehydes, ketones, and esters, as well as cyclic compounds containing five rings. 39 A number of dynamic headspace sampling approaches have recently been used for different applications, including environmental analysis, [40][41][42] food flavor and fragrance analysis, 43 and studying animal behavior. 44 Notably, in one study, a low-cost air sampling pump named a "FloPump" was compared to the commercially available Supelco equivalent, used for dynamic headspace sampling.…”

“…A number of dynamic headspace sampling approaches have recently been used for different applications, including environmental analysis, 40–42 food flavor and fragrance analysis, 43 and studying animal behavior 44 . Notably, in one study, a low‐cost air sampling pump named a “FloPump” was compared to the commercially available Supelco equivalent, used for dynamic headspace sampling.…”