Determination of the threshold odor concentration of main odorants in essential oils using gas chromatography–olfactometry incremental dilution technique

An essential oil, obtained by steam distillation of Clinopodium tomentosum (Kunth) Govaerts (Lamiaceae), collected in Ecuador, was analyzed by gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O) and GC–MS techniques. To our knowledge, the composition of this essential oil is described here for the first time, both from the chemical and olfactometric viewpoints. A preliminary analysis by GC–MS and using Kovats’ retention indexes, lead to characterize and quantify the oil constituents, while GC–O was then applied for the identification of the main odorants. By the incremental dilution method (AEDA, CHARM Analysis), applied to the GC–O technique, the flavor dilution (FD) chromatogram was obtained. In order to calculate the TOC values of the main odorants, the relationship between the odorant concentration at the sniffing port and that one in the injected solution was established. This relationship was calculated by comparing the injected amount with the TOC value of a reference compound (limonene), obtained by dynamic dilution olfactometry. A good agreement was found between calculated and measured TOC values of few odorants.