Identification and quantification of 56 targeted phenols in wines, spirits, and vinegars by online solid-phase extraction - ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography - quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry

Phenolic compounds seriously affect the sensory and nutritional qualities of food products, both through the positive contribution of wood transfer in barrel-aged products and as off-flavours. A new targeted analytical approach combining on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up to reduce matrix interference and rapid chromatographic detection performed with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/high-resolution mass spectrometry (Q-Orbitrap), was developed for the quantification of 56 simple phenols. Considering the advantages of using on-line SPE and a resolving power of 140,000, the proposed method was applied to define phenolic content in red (N = 8) and white (8) wines, spirits (8), common (8) and balsamic (8) vinegars. The final method was linear from the limits of quantification (0.0001-0.001 μg mL−1) up to 10 μg mL−1 with R2 of at least 0.99. Recovery, used to define method accuracy, ranged from 80 to 120% for 89% of compounds. The method was suitable for analytical requirements in the tested matrices being able to analyse 46 phenols in red wines, 41 phenols in white wines and in spirits, 42 phenols in common vinegars and 44 phenols in balsamic vinegars.