Determination of Menthol in Mentholated Cigarettes by Headspace Gas Chromatography

A static headspace gas chromatography(HS/GC) method was developed for determining the menthol in cut filler, filter and papers in a mentholated cigarette. The samples were heated at 100 ℃ for 30 minutes in a headspace sampler, then separated on a HP-INNOWax column followed by determining with a hydrogen flame ionization detector and quantifying by an internal standard method. The results showed that: 1) This method featured good accuracy and wide linear range with the limits of detection and quantification of 3.3 and 11.1 μg/mL,respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 92.7%-103.4% and the relative standard deviation was less than 7%(n=6). 2) The results obtained by the proposed method were consistent with those by tobacco industrial standard GC method. 3) This method was simple, rapid, accurate, able to be automated and less solvent consumption. It is suitable for testing menthol contents in batches of mentholated cigarettes for quality control during production and storage, as well as the research of menthol distribution in cigarette packet during storage.