Simultaneous Extraction and Derivatization of Volatile Organic Acids in Flue-Cured Tobacco with Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction Followed by GC-MS

Simultaneous extraction and derivatization followed by head-space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to determine volatile organic acids (VOAs) in flue-cured tobacco samples. Several experimental parameters, such as the type of SPME fibers, sampling temperature, pre-extraction and derivatization equilibration time, and anhydrous sodium sulfate amount, were optimized to improve sampling efficiency. Validation was carried out in terms of limits of detection (LOD), precision, recovery, and linearity. The results indicated that the optimized technique was easy, highly efficient, and sensitive. Finally, the performance of the proposed method was tested for the extraction and determination of the VOAs in flue-cured tobacco and satisfactory results were achieved.