The importance of GC and GC-MS in perfume analysis

Gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) are by far the most important analytical techniques in the perfume industry. Both perfume houses (the suppliers) and the home and personal-care companies (the clients) rely primarily on GC and GC-MS for unraveling the composition of perfumes (i.e. perfume formulation), quality control, competitor analysis and trace analysis on substrates and in the headspace. State-of-the-art perfume formulation is based on perfume-specific Kovats Index (KI) and MS databases. By applying FID (flame-ionization detector) response-correction factors, the accuracy of the perfume-formulation process can be further improved. Because of the complexity of perfumes, use is made of GC columns and conditions that offer maximum resolution rather than minimum analysis time. Mass-spectral deconvolution tools can be very useful in identifying perfume ingredients from GC-MS data in cases of co-elution or strong matrix interference. By applying the MS detector in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode, GC-MS is very suitable for trace analysis of perfume ingredients, thus enabling the study of perfume efficacy during use of home and personal-care products. Recent developments in the field of comprehensive GC (i.e. GC×GC) also seem very promising for perfume analysis.