Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry determination of 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol and 3-mercaptohexyl acetate in wine: a comparison of headspace solid phase microextraction and solid phase extraction methods

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method was established using headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) as the sampling procedure to analyse 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol (3-MH) and 3-mercaptohexyl acetate (3-MHA), two molecules with a tropical fruit aroma, in wine at trace level. This method offers important advantages, as it neither requires time-consuming sample preparation nor uses dangerous organic compounds, thus making control of wine aroma easier and suitable for routine analysis. As a comparison, a solid phase extraction (SPE) method, already described elsewhere for aroma analysis, was applied to quantify these analytes, extending this exhaustive enrichment to two important thiols. Detection limits for both the approaches were close to the sensory threshold value, resulting lower for the HS-SPME procedure and suitable for requirements in the oenological field. The application of the two proposed methods to 52 wines of different varieties gave similar results.