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Manual headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is one of the preferred methods, currently used for the identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in food and environmental samples. HS-SPME is an inexpensive, solvent-free and reliable technique with excellent sensitivity and good selectivity. Though it is an excellent technique for identification of VOCs in food and environmental samples, several factors that affect SPME must be thoroughly considered for accurate and precise quantification. The paper focuses on the state-of-the-art review for quantitative determination of organic compounds using the same in both air and water samples. Selection of appropriate techniques for generating external calibration in conjunction with our ongoing study and the associated findings are also presented.

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated by microorganisms provide important information about the presence of bacteria in meat and their proliferation over time. Our previous meat spoilage and contamination experiments have used headspace of meat packages at every 24 h interval. Distribution of VOCs at different time scale (< 24 h) of packaged meat (beef) under aerobic conditions have been studied and reported here. The headspace was acquired using an automated headspace sampling system at 0, 4, 8 and 12 h (4 h intervals) from the meat samples that was spoiled at room temperature. The acquired headspace samples were analyzed by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS). The temporal analysis revealed that the compounds such as carbon dioxide, acetone, acetic acid, 2-butanone-3-OH, toluene, N,N-dimethyl-formamide and hexanal were present thought-out the meat spoilage period. The microbial analysis revealed that microflora such as Pseudomonas, lactic acid bacteria and enterobacteroasese were found to be growing throughout the spoilage period.