Abstract: A method was developed for the determination of volatiles in Chinese rice wine with different aging times by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with sorptive extraction. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) were compared to select the best extraction method among the two. Compared with SPME, SBSE resulted in a higher-fold enrichment and a lower limit of detection. The average relative standard deviation (RSD) of the developed SBSE/GC-MS method (6 parallel determinations) was 11.47% and the recoveries for isobutyl alcohol, furfural and ethyl acetate were in the range of 88.6%－92.3%, suggesting its good stability. Sixty volatiles were identified and quantified, including 15 alcohols, 25 esters, 6 aldehydes and 5 acids, and others. With increasing aging time, ethanol concentration showed a gradual decrease, while the concentrations of 11 esters, 1 alcohol, 1 ketone and 1 aldehyde gradually increased. These changes may be caused by the oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes into acids followed by the esterification of acids and alcohols during storage. In conclusion, SBSE/GC-MS is a reliable method allowing the determination of volatiles in Chinese rice wine.

Key words: Chinese rice wine, stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), solid phase microextraction (SPME), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)