Solvent Desorption Dynamic Headspace Method for Diacetyl and Acetoin in Buttermilk

Major buttermilk volatiles recovered included diacetyl, acetic acid, and acetoin. Detection limits were diacetyl 0.2 and acetoin 2.0 μg/g. Mean percent recoveries were 112% for diacetyl and 8.08% for acetoin. Normalized detector responses were linear over the range of concentrations tested (R² > 0.999) for diacetyl and acetoin. Percent relative standard deviations from quadruplicate analysis of 7-day-old buttermilk were <8% for diacetyl, acetoin, and acetic acid. The method enabled quantitative estimation of diacetyl and acetoin in <30 min, including sample preparation time.