Food and Beverages
Tracking down flavors and fragrances with automated sample preparation and GC-O analysis.
Food and beverages contain a complex mixture of compounds that make up the characteristic smell and taste of each individual product. Whereas most beverages “only” consist of a water matrix with high proportions of alcohol, sugar and/or plant components, foodstuffs can contain an almost infinite variety of compounds and matrix consistencies. Critical taste and aroma components are often only present in low concentrations. Analyzing such substances requires different approaches and analytical techniques.
Some of these techniques are based on the distribution of volatile aromas in the gas phase. With the aid of the GERSTEL Multi Purpose Sampler (MPS) and techniques such as static headspace or solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) specific components from the gas phase can be analyzed and matrix interference remedied. These techniques have the aim of creating profiles of highly volatile compounds.
Other aroma compounds are either non-volatile or semi-volatile and therefore cannot be detected in the gas phase in some cases. Such important information can be lost, in particular with samples of unknown composition. This is where GERSTEL technology such as the Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) or the Dynamic Headspace (DHS) come to the fore.
Aroma components can be reliably detected with the GERSTEL Olfactory Detection Port (ODP) and reliably identified with the GERSTEL Olfactory Data Interpreter ODI software and the AromaOffice software.