In beverage packaging, flavor scalping—the absorption of aromatic compounds by the packaging—is a subtle phenomenon, yet it can alter the sensory profile and complicate recycling. Measuring it precisely often requires solvent extractions: reliable but slow, complex methods, and poorly suited to rapid screening.

Hosono and colleagues propose Purge & Trap (P&T) as an alternative based on dynamic headspace: an inert gas directs volatiles to a trap, where they are analyzed without solvents.

The results show that the method is applicable to a wide range of packaging materials and maintains good correlation with traditional extraction. Values ​​are generally higher, but the relative indications remain consistent.

The main advantage is operational: once the sample is prepared, the analysis is completed in less than an hour, with very small quantities of material. Furthermore, P&T guarantees broader analytical coverage: all the compounds considered are quantified, whereas solvent extraction may miss some of them on certain materials. By focusing only on volatiles, the method also reduces interference from additives and residues, improving instrument stability and chromatogram quality. From an environmental perspective, LCA indicators favor P&T due to their reduced reagent use and shorter times.

However, some limitations remain: it is not suitable for thermolabile or highly reactive compounds, and with heavily loaded samples, it requires special attention to line contamination.

Bibliographic references: Hiroko Hosono, Nobuo Hirakawa, Nan Zhang. Determination of flavor compounds sorbed by packaging materials using the purge and trap method. Green Analytical Chemistry,Volume 16, 2026, 100319, ISSN 2772-5774, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.greeac.2025.100319