Evaluation and Optimization of a Superior Extraction Method for the Characterization of the Volatile Profile of Black Tea by HS-SPME/GC-MS

A novel method, using combined temperatures in a single headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) procedure, was proposed in this research to extract the volatile compounds when analyzing the volatile profile of black tea by GC-MS. Parameters that influenced the extraction were optimized, and the optimal conditions for the proposed method were as follows: the saturation of sodium chloride of 100%, the ratio of tea to water of 1:5.92, and a total extraction time of 60 min comprising 11.9 min at 30 A degrees C, 17.4 min at 50 A degrees C, and 30.7 min at 70 A degrees C. Under these optimal conditions, the total peak area of the volatile compounds and the number of the identified compounds using the proposed method were both more than those by using the conventional method, which indicated that temperature affects the extraction efficiency of compounds with different volatilities. Using combined temperatures in a single HS-SPME procedure could obtain more information including contents and number of the volatile compounds identified in the determination of volatile compounds with different volatilities of black tea and other complex substrates.