Quantitative metabolic profiling of grape, apple and raspberry volatile compounds (VOCs) using a GC/MS/MS method

• Multi-targeted GC-MS/MS method for the confirmation and quantification of 160 fruit volatile compounds.
• Multiple reaction monitoring with selection of two transition ions, one for quantification and one for confirmation.
• Example of application to the profiling of grape, apple and raspberry volatile compounds.

Nowadays the trend in analytical chemistry is clearly towards the creation of multiple methods with extended coverage, enabling the determination of many different classes of compounds in a single analysis in which virtually all classes of different compounds are included in a single run. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a versatile and selective GC/MS/MS method for metabolite profiling of volatile compounds in apples, raspberries and grapes. Validation of the method was performed in terms of the limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity range, and inter and intraday precision. Confirmation of the identity of the compounds in samples was carried out by checking compliance of the q/Q ratio of samples and reference standards. The multiple reaction monitoring with selection of two transition ions, one for quantification and one for confirmation, provided excellent selectivity and sensitivity, using the q/Q ratio as a confirmatory parameter. A multi target method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification and confirmation of 160 volatile compounds of raspberries, apples and grapes. The main classes were esters (42), alcohols (32), monoterpenes (31), aldehydes (17), ketones (12), norisoprenoids (8), acids (8), sesquiterpenes (7), pyrazines (3) and ethers (1) allowing the detection and quantification of 69 compounds in apples, 122 in grapes and 42 in raspberries. Moreover, the method developed can be easily extended to volatile compounds in other fruits and can therefore be widely used for quantification/profiling studies in the field of fruit aroma.