Determination of Organic Acids in Tobacco Using Derivatization Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Volatile and semi-volatile organic acids from flue-cured tobacco are converted to their esters by using sulfuric acid & methanol.3-Methy butanoic acid,benzeneacetic acid,octanoic acid,tetradecanioc acid,and hexadecanoic acid are quantitated using derivatization,headspace solid-phase micro-extraction(SPME), and gas chromatography with selected ion monitoring mode mass spectrometry.More than forty organic acids are detected by using this technology.Meanwhile,the volatile and semi-volatile organic acids in the same tobacco samples are analysed with the conventional derivatization and extraction methods and only tweleve organic acids are detected.