A method was developed for determination of acetaldehyde in
beer in our laboratory. Although the results shown here were
preliminary, they indicated the potential of HS–GC, and in
particular, indicated that this method could provide significant
data on volatile flavors in beer. The acetaldehyde, stripped from the
aqueous sample by a flow of nitrogen, was preconcentrated in the
headspace of sample vials, and then it was detected by GC with an
FID. After careful choice of experimental conditions, performance
of the system was evaluated. Instrument configuration and
calibration as well as detecting threshold were obtained by
plotting peak area versus concentration. The good sensitivity and
recoveries confirmed the potential interest of this analytical
strategy in real analytical applications.