Determination of E,E-farnesol in Makgeolli (rice wine) using dynamic headspace sampling and stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

In this paper, we analysed the volatile and semi-volatile compounds, including E,E-farnesol in Makgeolli which is a traditional type of Korean fermented rice wines. Forty-one compounds including alcohols, 1-butanol-3-methyl acetate, E,E-farnesol, stearol, and phytane, were separated and quantified by dynamic headspace sampling (DHS) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. SBSE has been found to be an effective method for analysing E,E-farnesol levels in Makgeolli. The experimental parameters related to the extraction efficiency of the SBSE method, such as ethanol concentration and filtration, were studied and optimised. The linear dynamic range of the SBSE method for E,E-farnesol ranged from 0.02 to 200 ng ml−1 with R2 = 0.9974. The limit of detection and limit of quantification of the SBSE method were 0.02 and 0.05 ng ml−1, respectively. The relative standard deviation of intra- and inter-day reproducibility was less than 6.2% and 9.9%, respectively.