Headspace solid‐phase microextraction analysis of volatile compounds from spice essential oils in dry flavourings

The composition of volatile compounds in nine spices was analysed by means of headspace solid‐phase microextraction (HS‐SPME) from dry flavourings of the spice essential oils, to devise an effective method to determine the content of the essential oils. The HS‐SPME was combined with GC‐MS and GC‐FID for identification and quantification of the volatile compounds. The optimisation of the extraction conditions was carried out by response surface methodology. The evaluation of the analytical parameters indicated that the method had a high precision (coefficient of variations lower than 3%), it was linear (response factors were smaller than 5%) and recoveries were higher than 89%. In the ruggedness test, sample quantity and pre‐extraction time were the factors that stood out as the causing of the greater effects on the analytical results.