Analytical Lab Utilizes Photometric Detector to Provide Critical Differentiation

Over the years, the businesses of Xylem Analytics 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 sulfur compounds.

During the development of spearmint and other essential oils, analytical labs are challenged by volatile sulfur compounds, as they impart undesirable odors to essential oils and have extremely low olfactory thresholds. So the detecting, quantifying, and eliminating of sulfur compounds is an important aspect of flavor 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 sulfur 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 sulfur chromatograms contained nine peaks. Five peaks were confirmed as sulfur 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 sulfur compounds.