Alex Hodgson | Authors

Terpenes contribute heavily to the senses of smell and taste and thus are integral to industries like herb and spice producers, essential oil manufacturers, cannabis growers and distributors, breweries, and distilleries, among countless others. Current terpene analysis is performed using gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID) and GC–mass spectrometry (MS); however, baseline separation is needed for quantification because many terpenes of interest are isomers, which can lead to relatively long run times. Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectroscopy can spectrally distinguish isomers and quantitatively deconvolve coeluting peaks, allowing for significant reduction in GC run time. This article outlines a method for the analysis of 21 terpenes in a variety of samples with a sub 9-min elution time.