Search

A simple method for the analysis of major wine volatiles and semivolatiles by stir bar sorptive extraction in combination with thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SBSE-TD-GC-MS) was developed. Significant experimental parameters such as extraction time, temperature, salt addition, pH, and thermal desorption parameters were optimized to provide a sensitive and robust analytical method. The method provided good repeatability (%RSD < 10%) for 38 major wine volatile compounds, including alcohols, acids, esters, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, and lactones. Quantitative data for 62 South African red and white wines were used to study the suitability of major volatile data for the differentiation of wine samples according to grape variety or cultivar. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) showed that most of the variation in volatile composition between wine samples could be ascribed to differences in wine age, wood contact, and fermentation practices. Despite the contribution of these factors, discriminant analysis (DA) was successfully applied to the classification of red and white wine samples according to cultivar.