Assessment of dietary exposure to flavouring substances via consumption of flavoured teas. Part II: transfer rates of linalool and linalyl esters into Earl Grey tea infusions

The assessment of dietary exposure via the consumption of flavoured foods is a key element of the safety evaluation of flavouring substances. Linalyl acetate and linalool are the major flavouring substances in Earl Grey teas; the objective of this study was to determine their transfer rates from the tea leaves into the tea beverage upon preparation of a hot water infusion. Spiking experiments revealed a transfer rate of 66% for linalool. In contrast, the transfer rate for linalyl acetate was only 1.9%; in turn, the hydrolysis product linalool (17.0%) and a spectrum (19.9%) of degradation and rearrangement products (monoterpene alcohols, esters and hydrocarbons) were present in the tea beverage. The transfer rates were shown to be proportional to the length of the infusion. The impact of the hot water treatment on the enantiomeric compositions of linalyl acetate and linalool was determined, and structure-dependent experiments were performed by variation of the acyl and the alcohol moiety of the monoterpene ester. Comparative dietary exposure assessments demonstrated the need to take correction factors based on the experimentally determined transfer rates into account. Based on tea consumption data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2000/2001), the exposure to linalyl acetate ranges from 0.2 mg day(-1) (average) to 1.8 mg day(-1) (high). The corresponding values for linalool are 4.2 mg day(-1) (average) and 46.6 mg day(-1) (high). The exposure of linalool via consumption of the tea beverage is approximately 26 times higher than that of linalyl acetate, although in the flavoured tea leaves the median content of linalyl acetate is approximately 1.8 times higher than that of linalool.