Development of a stir bar sorptive extraction method coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of volatile compounds in Sherry brandy.

Sherry brandy (Jerez, SW, Spain) is a high quality distilled beverage derived from wine. Its perceived quality depends, inter alia, on hundreds of flavour compounds. A Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) method coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been developed for the analysis of volatile compounds in Sherry brandy. The optimization of the extraction procedure has been carried out using a statistical approach, based on a factorial design. The best overall analytical conditions obtained were the following: 35 mL of sample, diluted 1:1 with Milli-Q water and extraction at 1100 rpm for 100 min. The method has been successfully validated in a further stage of this work. Several performance characteristics such as calibration, linearity, precision (inter- and intra-assay), detection and quantification limits and recovery were studied. Finally, the method developed has been applied to different Sherry brandies. The results obtained show SBSE to be a suitable technique for the reliable analysis of volatile compounds in brandies. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.