Lager beer flavour profiling by stir bar sorptive extraction & GC×GC-TOFMS (Tatiana Cucu, MDCW 2023)

🎤 Presenter: Tatiana Cucu, Frank David, Christophe Devos, Pat Sandra (RIC, Kortrijk, Belgium)

💡 Book in your calendar: 15th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop (MDCW) January 2024

15th Multidimensional Chromatography (MDC) Workshop 2024

Abstract

Beer is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Its specific flavour is the result of the interaction of compounds from hops, grain and yeast during the brewing process. Identification of these compounds and determination of their influence on the overall quality of the beer is highly challenging due the very high number of organic compounds present. Moreover, some compounds with low odour threshold values and high sensory impact are difficult to identify due to co-elution with major odour-inactive compounds. Accurate beer flavour profiling is important for brewers to optimize beer production and to guarantee odour quality and taste stability of the final products. This is especially the case for pale lager beers that represent the beer type with the largest worldwide production volume and consumption.

Efficient extraction is mandatory in flavour analysis of beer. In a previous study we have shown that stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), a solvent-free extraction method, is highly efficient for beer flavour profiling [1]. Combined with conventional (1D) GC separation and TOFMS detection it was possible to identify already over 400 flavour relevant compounds. In the current study, combination of SBSE extraction with a multidimensional separation, namely GC×GC, was used in trying to further increase the knowledge on the flavour profile of different brands of Belgian lager beer. The performances of GC-TOFMS and GC×GC-TOFMS are compared for in-depth flavour profiling and differentiation of lager beers.