Effects of the sniffing port air makeup in gas chromatography-olfactometry.

A time-intensity gas chromatography-olfactometry (GCO) apparatus was developed to study some aerodynamic parameters that may influence odor detection and intensity measurements by the subjects. The addition of humidified air at the elution place of the compounds is generally recommended for several reasons (essentially to prevent nasal mucosa dehydration and to improve chromatographic effluent carriage out of the column), but clues about these effects are yet to be published. This question is studied through two complementary experiments using synthetic solutions of 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, hexan-2-one, octanal, nonanal, furfural, citronellal, benzaldehyde, octan-1-ol, 2-phenylethyl acetate, guaiacol, 2-phenylethanol, and vanillin. This work demonstrates the need for an air makeup to increase odor detection frequency and intensity rating. With the conditions tested, a minimum makeup air flow rate of 50 L.min(-)(1) is necessary. On the contrary, humidification of the makeup is useless for the sniffers comfort and to improve the quantitative GCO results.

Study of interaction phenomena between aroma compounds and carbohydrate matrixes by inverse gas chromatography.

Besides the conventional techniques used for the investigation of food-flavor interactions, inverse gas chromatography (IGC) may provide a useful tool for the direct assessment of the retention of aroma compounds in a matrix. IGC consists of single reference compound injections at a fixed temperature onto a column which stationary phase is the material of interest. We have applied this technique to high amylose corn starch, wheat starch, and beta-cyclodextrin matrixes, using aroma compounds presenting various functional groups. Low energy interactions were measured which may result from polar or hydrophobic binding. Starch behaved under these conditions as a polar chromatographic phase. We also focused on the influence of a physical modification of the starch on its retention properties toward 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadien-1-al. Retention was found to be greater after a specific thermal treatment. As checked by DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) and DMTA (dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis), the observed changes are believed to be related to the glass transition of the starch. For the time being, the dehydration of the matrix associated with the lack of control of the relative humidity within the column is the main restriction to this technique.

Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APcI) liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: characterization of natural antioxidants.

The combination of liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) allows non-volatile and thermally sensitive compounds to be handled. The key feature, regarding LC flowrate and MS vacuum requirements, is the LC-MS interface system. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APcI) is a sensitive and widely applicable method which gives primarily molecular weight information with the ability to provide structural information if required. Applications concerning the characterization of natural antioxidants from rosemary, sage and barley are reported: the main functional groups of diterpenes (rosmanol and derivatives), the aglycone part of glycosylated flavones and the different units of polymers of flavan-3-ols (procyanidins, prodelphinidins) are shown.