30.10.2014 Views

Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic ... - Capacity4Dev

Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic ... - Capacity4Dev

Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic ... - Capacity4Dev

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS<br />

loop of the valve by the pressurized headspace gas. Today, automated instruments<br />

based on these principles are commercially available.<br />

9.6.1 Trace Analysis by HS-GC<br />

HS-GC in both its dynamic <strong>and</strong> static versions permits the determination<br />

of analytes at low concentrations. Usually the dynamic technique<br />

is considered to be more sensitive; however, this is not necessarily<br />

true. For example, trace impurities in a water sample, at the parts-per-billion<br />

level, can be determined relatively easily by static HS-GC.<br />

9.7 Headspace Trapping Techniques<br />

9.7.1 Static Headspace Trapping<br />

Using the static method (Figure 5), a food sample is normally<br />

placed in a heated vessel, which is sealed gas-tight by a septum. The food<br />

sample stays inside the vessel <strong>for</strong> a certain period of time, so that the volatile<br />

compounds evaporate to a certain concentration in the air or to certain<br />

equilibrium. In order to determine the best conditions <strong>for</strong> the experiment, the<br />

odor of the headspace can be checked by sniffi ng the vessel. Subsequently,<br />

a distinct volume is taken out of the vessel by a gas-tight syringe <strong>and</strong> directly<br />

injected into a gas chromatographic column, with or sometimes without prior<br />

concentration (e.g. cryofocussing). The advantage of this method is that it<br />

accurately assesses the composition of the odorants. An application of this<br />

technique, called GC olfactometry of static headspace samples, has been<br />

widely used to identify the highly volatile compounds causing the fi rst odor<br />

impression of foods.<br />

Figure 5: Static headspace trapping technique<br />

163

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!