Determination of volatile components of green, black, oolong and white tea by optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction-dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction coupled with gas chromatography

Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) followed by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) was used for extraction and preconcentration of volatile constituents of six tea plants. The preconcentrated compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Totally, 42 compounds were identified and caffeine was quantitatively determined. The main parameters (factors) of the extraction process were optimized by using a central composite design (CCD). Methanol and chloroform were selected as the extraction solvent and preconcentration solvent, respectively .The optimal conditions were obtained as 21 min for sonication time; 32 °C for temperature; 27 μL for volume of extraction solvent and 7.4% for salt concentration (NaCl/H2O). The determination coefficient (R2) was 0.9988. The relative standard deviation (RSD %) was 4.8 (n=5), and the enhancement factors (EFs) were 4.0–42.6.

► The method includes UAE–DLLME coupled with GC–FID and GC–MS.
► The method was applied for determination of volatile components of 6 tea plants.
► A small CCD was used for optimization and modeling the extraction.
► It is simple, fast and safe method with a relatively wide LDR that consumes less organic solvent and plant materials.