Non-targeted Analysis of Aroma Compounds in Japanese Curry Roux by GCxGC-TOFMS
Introduction
Food flavor compounds are important elements of good taste, while off-flavor compounds, such as rancid odors, significantly affect food quality. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is widely used to analyze food aroma compounds, as it allows separation and detection of highly volatile components in samples. However, because the flavor consists of numerous compounds, analysis can be challenging due to co-elution in conventional one-dimensional GC-MS. To address this issue, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCxGC-MS) offers greatly enhanced separation capability.
In qualitative analysis using GC-MS or GCxGC-MS, compound identification is commonly performed by library searching using commercially available electron ionization (EI) mass spectral databases, such as the NIST database (DB). However, some compounds are not listed in the NIST DB. To determine the molecular formulas of unknown compounds that are not listed in the database, we propose an “integrated analysis”1) approach that combines electron ionization (EI) and soft ionization (SI) data obtained using time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS). Additionally, automated structure estimation can be performed using msFineAnalysis AI, which predicts EI mass spectra from chemical structures using artificial intelligence. In the latest version of this software, a GC×GC data analysis function has been newly added. Therefore, in this MSTips, we report an analysis example using the latest version of the software.
We measured commercially available Japanese curry roux, which is composed of various ingredients and extracts, such as spices, meat, and vegetables, and is thought to have a complex aroma component. Volatile components extracted by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were measured using GCxGC-TOFMS, and the results of analysis using msFineAnalysis AI are reported.