Solid‐phase aroma concentrate extraction (SPACE™ ): a new headspace technique for more sensitive analysis of volatiles

Abstract

The SPACE™ (solid-phase aroma concentrate extraction) method is a modified version of the SPME (solid-phase micro extraction) technique for headspace analysis, with increased area of the adsorbent to enable more sensitive analysis of volatiles. The SPACE™ rod used in the technique is fabricated from stainless steel coated with an adsorbent mixture, consisting mainly of a graphite carbon. Initially, the SPACE™ rod is fixed in the head of a closed flask, where it adsorbs the aroma. Next, the rod is thermally desorbed on-line with a high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (HRGC-MS). In the present experiments, SPACE™ sampling reproducibility was determined by analysing a standard mixture and roasted coffee beans. The SPACE™ rod collected the analytes with good reproducibility, with the exception of high polar compounds. Similar analyses of coffee powder were performed by SPME and other methods for comparison with the SPACE™ method. The SPACE™ method proved to have superior capabilities with high concentrations, and it produced a well-balanced chromatogram.

Reliable characterization of coffee bean aroma profiles by automated headspace solid phase microextraction‐gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry with the support of a dual‐filter mass spectra library

“…An enrichment of headspace analytes, when necessary, can be achieved by adsorbents such as activated charcoal or porous polymers [16]. Excellent coffee analyte recoveries obtained through headspace sorptive extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction [17] and solid-phase aroma concentrate extraction [18] have recently been reported in the literature.…”

“…The choice of a SPME fiber is dependent on the specific physico-chemical characteristics of the target solutes to be extracted. This valid sampling procedure has been employed for the extraction of coffee analytes prior to GC-MS analysis [10,17,18,21]; in all cases, the SPME step was carried out manually. A large part of modern analytical method development is currently directed towards the reduction of human intervention through automation with the aim of gaining a number of undisputed advantages: lower time-consumption; lower probability of sample contamination; and higher analytical repeatability.…”

Essential oils and volatiles: sample preparation and analysis. A review.

“…The HCC-HS techniques were immediately successful, mainly because they are as simple, fast, easy to automate and as reliable as S-HS, while at the same time showing analyte concentration factors that are very often comparable to those of D-HS. Several techniques based on this approach are now available, including: HS-solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), [8] in-tube sorptive extraction (INCAT, HS-SPDE), [9][10][11] headspace sorptive extraction (HSSE), [12,13] solid-phase aroma concentrate extraction (SPACE), [14] headspace liquid-phase microextraction (HS-LPME) [15,16] and large surface area HCC-HS sampling (MESI, MME, HS-STE). [17][18][19] HCC-HS, HS-SPME and S-HS, HCC-HS and D-HS techniques in the sample preparation of the plant volatile fraction, their advantages and limits, were recently reviewed by the authors' group.…”

Instrumental Analysis of Seafood Flavour

“…Comprehensive reviews of SPME have been published elsewhere [50][51][52]. Recently, solid phase aroma concentration extraction (SPACE TM ) was introduced as a modification of SPME, with the aim of increasing the area of the adsorbent so as to improve sensitivity (over 30 times more than SPME) [30,53]. SPACE TM consists of a stainless steel rod coated with a mixture of adsorbents, mainly graphite carbon [28].…”