In-pipette solid-phase extraction prior to flow-modulation comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with dual detection for the determination of minor components in vegetable oils

The present research is based on the development of an effective, environmentally-friendly and low-cost method for investigation of minor components in vegetable oils, exploiting the advantages of a miniaturized solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the potential of flow modulation (FM) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS) and a flame ionization detector (FID). The initial sample preparation step was carried out using a miniaturized approach characterized by a SPE process in a Pasteur pipette. Then, the isolated fraction was injected into an FM GC×GC system. Tentative identification was carried out by means of MS spectral information, while quantification was carried out by using the FID data. Four different vegetable oil samples were analyzed using the proposed method, namely an extra virgin olive oil (EVO), a hazelnut oil (HO), a borage oil, and an EVO/HO mixture.