Characterization and Quantification of Livestock Odorants using Sorbent Tube Sampling and Thermal Desorption coupled with Multidimensional Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry–Olfactometry

Abstract

and Implications Characterization and quantification of livestock odorants is one of the most challenging analytical tasks because odor-causing gases are very reactive, polar and often present at very low concentrations in a complex matrix of less important or irrelevant gases. The objectives of this research is to develop a novel analytical method for characterization of the livestock odorants including their odor character, odor intensity, and hedonic tone and further quantitative analysis of the key odorants responsible for livestock odor emissions. Sorbent tubes packed with Tenax TA were employed for sampling. The automated one-step thermal desorption coupled with multidimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry system was developed for simultaneous chemical and odor analysis. Fifteen odorants identified from different livestock species operations are quantified. In addition, odor character, odor intensity and hedonic tone associated with each of the target compounds are also analyzed. The method developed in this research is being used on a multistate, multispecies project focused on quantifying odor and chemical analysis of odor.

Odor and Odorous Chemical Emissions from Animal Buildings: Part 5. Simultaneous Chemical and Sensory Analysis with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry-Olfactometry

“…The odor samples were analyzed for chemical concentrations, odor character, odor intensity, odor peak area, and hedonic tone simultaneously using GC-MS-O similarly to methods described by Koziel et al (2006), Bulliner et al (2006), Lo et al (2008), and Zhang et al (2008Zhang et al ( , 2010. Table 1 summarizes the measured VOC concentrations, odor character, odor intensity, odor peak area, and hedonic tone associated with the 15 target odorants in air samples collected at a swine site and a dairy site.…”

Synergistic approaches for odor active compounds monitoring and identification: State of the art, integration, limits and potentialities of analytical and sensorial techniques

“…Flow rates can be adjusted to ensure the optimal conditions and obtain the best compromise between chromatographic resolution and sensory sensitivity at the sniffing ports. As previously mentioned in section 4.1, olfactometric evaluation has been coupled also to MDGC for quantitative analysis of the marker odorants from livestock odor based on thermal desorption coupled with a multidimensional GC/MS-O system used for simultaneous chemical and odor analysis [56]. The system was equipped with a non-polar pre-column (5% phenyl-methylpolysiloxane stationary phase) and a polar column (fused silica capillary column coated with polyethylene glycol) connected in series by means of a Dean's switch showing higher identification and quantification of polar and non-polar key odor active compounds of the matrix under investigation (detection limits ranged from 40 pg for skatole to 3590 pg for acetic acid).…”