Analysis of aroma components in honey by HS-SPME-GC-TOFMS
Introduction
Honey is produced by bees collecting flower nectar, mixing it with their internal enzymes, and ripening it within their hive. The flavor of honey depends on the flower type of nectar source. Honey with multiple nectar sources is called "Mixed flower honey", and honey with one nectar source is called "Single flower honey". In Japan, Astragalus honey and Acacia honey which have mild flavor among single flower honey have been preferred. But Manuka honey and Jarrah honey which have rich flavor have also been attracted attention in recent years due to health consciousness.
In this MSTips, we introduce the results of headspace-solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-TOFMS) analysis of aroma components that affect the flavor of honey. In HS-SPME, a sample is sealed in a headspace vial, and the SPME fiber is exposed to its gas phase to adsorb volatile components. Highly sensitive analysis is possible by easily extracting and concentrating volatile components. In addition to this HS-SPME, the GC pretreatment autosampler HT2850T (HTA S.R.L.) can also handle liquid injection and HS-gastight syringe injection by replacing the syringe attachment. Since honey, which is a natural product, is expected to contain components not registered in the NIST database, we used JMS-T2000GC and msFineAnalysis AI, which are capable of AI structural analysis.