Supercritical fluid extraction of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole from cork stoppers

2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) is the compound most often associated with cork taint in wines and has been shown to have a very low sensory threshold ( approximately 5 ng/L in wine). A supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method for TCA in bark cork stoppers was developed with quantification via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring. Supercritical carbon dioxide functioned as the extracting solvent, and temperature and pressure were optimized for the extraction. The method was validated using the stable isotope (2)H(5)-TCA as the internal standard. Recovery of TCA from spiked corks was found to be within 1-4% of the theoretical concentration with a coefficient of variation ranging from 2.6 to 9.7%. TCA levels in corks pulled from wines described as tainted by experienced judges ranged from 0.13 to 2.11 microg/g of cork. The SFE procedure offers a rapid, quantitative, nearly solvent-free, and automated method for the extraction of TCA from complex solid matrices such as cork.