Determination of major aroma components in mainstream cigarette smoke using cold trap followed by GC×GC-TOFMS

Abstract

A qualitative and quantitative analytical method was developed and applied to the analysis of major aroma components present in mainstream tobacco smoke. The cigarette smoke samples were cold trapped using liquid nitrogen and then analysed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). Important experimental parameters, such as the type, volume of the extraction solvent, and flow rate of smoking were optimised to improve the analysis results. The results indicated that 180 mL of diethyl ether in the cold trap with a 4.0 mL·min-1 smoke flow rate were the optimal condition. Using this experimental setup, a total of 112 aroma components were identified and quantified using a mass spectral library search. Compared to the Cambridge filter pad method, a higher peak number and better repeatability were obtained using the cold trap method. The developed analytical method was applied to the classification of different cigarette styles.