Analytical Lab Utilises Photometric Detector to Provide Critical Differentiation

Over the years, the businesses of Xylem Analytics (USA) have made it a point to address customer needs. And a perfect example of that is the implementation of an OI Analytical photometric detector during the processing of spearmint oils to help address the volatility of sulphur compounds.

During the development of spearmint and other essential oils, analytical labs are challenged by volatile sulphur compounds, as they impart undesirable odours to essential oils and have extremely low olfactory thresholds. So the detecting, quantifying, and eliminating of sulphur compounds is an important aspect of flavour and fragrance quality control work.

Two species of spearmint is cultivated in the United States every year, with 1.09 million kilograms of spearmint oil produced in the U.S. in 2008. Forty-five percent of mint oil produced in the U.S. is used to flavor chewing gum, and one 55-gallon drum of mint oil can flavor 5,200,000 sticks of gum or 400,000 tubes of toothpaste.

Essential oil companies and the labs that facilitate the quality control work on their behalf have required a rapid screening technique to detect and quantify volatile sulphur compounds. And they have found an effective solution with a gas chromatograph equipped with a 5380 PFPD pulsed flame detector from Xylem’s OI Analytical brand.

The PFPD sulphur chromatograms contained nine peaks. Five peaks were confirmed as sulphur peaks in the spearmint oil using the integration time gate function of the PFPD and WinPulse software, making the PFPD-equipped GC an effective solution against the challenging volatility of the sulphur compounds.