Rapid identification of artificial fragrant rice based on volatile organic compounds: From PTR-MS to FTIR

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from foods can reflect their internal properties. Artificial fragrant rice (AFR) is a fraudulent food product in which the flavor of low-quality rice is artificially enhanced by addition of essence. In this study, proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry, long optical path gas phase FTIR spectroscopy and fiber optic evanescent wave were used to analyze the characteristic mass-charge ratios signal and infrared fingerprint signal of four essence which may be used to make AFR, and the prepared AFR samples with different essence levels (0.001 %-0.3 %) were used to verify the detection performance of the detection methods. The results show that the three detection methods effectively identified AFR containing the minimum recommended dose of essence (≥0.1 %, w/w). The above detection methods can provide detection results in real time without complex sample pretreatment and provide options as rapid screening methods for food regulatory authorities to identify AFR.