Volatile composition of tequila. Evaluation of three extraction methods

Extraction performance of the liquid–liquid batch (LLB) and continuous extraction, as well as simultaneous distillation–extraction were evaluated in order to analyze volatile compounds in tequila. Initially, the best extraction conditions were obtained for each method using tequila samples. Conditions tested were solvent type, extraction time, sample's alcoholic concentration and, for the LLB, the number of successive extractions. Response variables were chromatograms, number of peaks, and total area. In a second phase, its extraction performance was evaluated with a model solution of 38 compounds. In both steps, obtained extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography. The best results were obtained with the LLB method since it makes possible to recover a good number of volatile compounds in few minutes. Additionally, this method showed the best performance after extraction and concentration, and the lower CV