Hexanal (or hexanaldehyde) is an alkylaldehyde used in the flavor industry for foods and products with a fruity taste and aroma. It is a naturally volatile compound with antimicrobial activity, which is why it is often used to inhibit the ripening of fruits and vegetables. The aim of this work is to determine the amount of hexanal released by gas chromatography. Te detector used is a mass spectrometer, which offers high selectivity and sensitivity. GC-MS conditions were optimized to achieve sufficient quality of the spectra of the individual compounds and thus adequate separation of the components. The analytical method was validated to demonstrate its linearity, accuracy and repeatability. We also analyzed three real samples of hexanal releasing enzymes. Most of the hexanal was released by the mixture of lipase and lipoxidase enzymes, and no large amounts of released hexanal were detected in the lipoxidase sampel itself, even after a long time.
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