Abstract:[Objective] In view of the possible illegal addition of rose flavors (citronellol and geraniol) to Yunnan black tea, a method was established for rapid detection of citronellol and geraniol based on QuEChERS-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (QuEChERS-GC-MS). [Method] >The procedure involved extracting Yunnan black tea samples with acetonitrile following water wetting. The extract was purified by QuEChERS dispersed solid phase extraction. It was detected under the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode and quantified by the external standard method. [Result] Good linear relationships were observed for citronellol and geraniol within the mass concentration range from 0.05 to 5.00 μg/mL, with correlation coefficients (R2) greater than 0.999 for both compounds. The recovery rates under the spiked concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mg/kg fell within the range of 95.7% to 106.4%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) ranging from 0.77% to 6.58%. The method exhibited the limits of detection (LOD) of 0.22 mg/kg and 0.10 mg/kg and the limits of quantification (LOQ) of 0.74 mg/kg and 0.32 mg/kg. The method was then employed to analyze 29 suspected Yunnan black tea samples. The results showed high mass fractions of citronellol and geraniol in suspected samples, with the highest mass fractions recorded at 53.40 mg/kg and 68.33 mg/kg, respectively, which indicated illegal addition of flavors in Yunnan black tea. [Conclusion] It is a straightforward, reproducible, and precise method suitable for the rapid detection of citronellol and geraniol in Yunnan black tea.
