Abstract:

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of three sweet flavor compounds in wort and beer including 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone (DMHF), 2(or 5)-ethyl-5(or 2)-methyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone (EMHF) and 2-acetylpyrrole (2-AP). C₁₈solid-phase extraction (SPE) tubes were used to clean up samples. The analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column (50 mm×2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) with gradient elution of mobile phase A (water containing 0.1%(v/v) formic acid) and mobile phase B (acetonitrile containing 0.01%(v/v) formic acid). These three compounds were identified by retention times in positive mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Good linearities were observed (R²>0.999) in the concentrations less than 1000 μ g/L. The recoveries were in the range of 74.3%-86.7%. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) (n=6) were between 4.8% and 7.3%. Both DMHF and EMHF can be produced by yeast during fermentation, which resulted in apparently higher concentrations in beer than the relevant wort. The concentrations of these compounds may be much higher in certain beer, such as the India Pale (IPA) beer. The method with simple and selective pretreatment measures was sensitive, accurate and reproducible. It may be applied for the quality control in breweries.

Key words: 2-acetylpyrrole, beer, furanone, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), wort