Wine analysis by FastGC proton-transfer reaction-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry

•PTR-ToF-MS was coupled to a prototype FastGC system.•The system was tested on red wine – FastGC allowed to rule out the effect of ethanol.•Wines could be separated on the basis of grape variety and region of origin.•FastGC provided additional information, without increasing duration of the analysis.

Proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) has successfully been applied to a wide variety of food matrices, nevertheless the reports about the use of PTR-MS in the analysis of alcoholic beverages remain anecdotal. Indeed, due to the presence of ethanol in the sample, PTR-MS can only be employed after dilution of the headspace or at the expense of radical changes in the operational conditions. In the present research work, PTR-ToF-MS was coupled to a prototype FastGC system allowing for a rapid (90 s) chromatographic separation of the sample headspace prior to PTR-MS analysis. The system was tested on red wine: the FastGC step allowed to rule out the effect of ethanol, eluted from the column during the first 8 s, allowing PTR-MS analysis to be carried out without changing the ionization conditions. Eight French red wines were submitted to analysis and could be separated on the basis of the respective grape variety and region of origin. In comparison to the results obtained by direct injection, FastGC provided additional information, thanks to a less drastic dilution of the sample and due to the chromatographic separation of isomers. This was achieved without increasing duration and complexity of the analysis.

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