Volatile Organic Flavor Compounds in Grape Seed Oil

Three automated solvent-free extraction techniques for GC-MS determination of VOCs in cold pressed grape seed oil have been evaluated by researchers at the Max Rubner-Institute (MRI), Department of Safety and Quality of Cereals, Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food in Detmold, Germany: Multiple Headspace Injections (MHS) from a sample using the Hot Injection and Trapping (HIT) technique; Dynamic Headspace (DHS) based on the GERSTEL DHS system; and Direct Thermal Extraction (DTE/ATEX) in slitted µ-vials.

Results are published in an open access paper: Volatile Organic Compounds in Grape Seed Oil—Comparison of Different Extraction Techniques | Food Analytical Methods. Advantages and disadvantages of each extraction method are described and summarized, followed by recommendations. The wide ranges of boiling points and concentrations pose a challenge. The standard validation criteria used include repeatability and reproducibility, linearity, coefficient of determination, accuracy, and lower limit of quantification.

Chromatographic performance was assessed by measuring signal intensity and the number of detectable peaks. DHS showed the best performance across the validation parameters; ATEX proved to be most suitable when the sample amount is limited, and MHS offered simplicity in handling, but requires more time. DHS was found to be a robust and versatile analysis method for VOCs in grape seed oil, particularly suited for non-target/untargeted screening and compound identification.

According to the authors, the findings may also be applicable to other edible oils such as olive oil.