Abstract
A method for determining the flavor compounds – esters (ethyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, hexyl acetate, benzyl acetate, ethyl octanoate, 2-phenylethyl acetate) in wines by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HSSPME) combined with gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry (GC/ITMS) was developed. Several parameters of extraction and desorption procedure such as types of fibers, extraction technique, extraction temperature, extraction time, desorption temperature, desorption time, stir rate, sample’s volume, salt concentration, ethanol content, were studied and optimized. The method shows good linearity in two orders for most of analysts. Good precisions (3.6% ~10.2%) are obtained using 4-methyl-2-pentanol, ethyl heptanoate, and 2-octanol as internal standards. Finally, the method was successful applied to analyze esters in two kinds of Taiwan’s wines – Rice Wine and Sorghum Wine.