Characterization of volatile compounds of pu-erh tea using solid-phase microextraction and simultaneous distillation–extraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Two extraction methods, namely, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and simultaneous distillation–extraction (SDE) both followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry were applied for the determination of a wide range of volatile compounds in pu-erh tea. The conditions of solid-phase microextraction including fiber selections and sampling condition optimization have been previously investigated. By the two methods, 79 volatile compounds belonging to different categories were identified. Among them, 61 volatile compounds were extracted by SDE and 67 by SPME. Qualitative and quantitative differences of pu-erh tea volatile profiles were observed by applying the two aforementioned extraction methods. SDE technique achieved higher percentages of high molecular weight alcohols, acids, and esters of low volatility, whereas SPME technique was found useful for analyzing low molecular weight alcohols, methoxy-phenolic compounds, aldehydes, ketones, and hydrocarbons of high volatility that were closely related to the characteristics of pu-erh tea aroma and its sensory perception. Therefore, SPME technique was a reliable extraction method for controlling pu-erh tea quality flavor.