PHENOL COMPOUNDS IDENTIFIED IN SELECTED LIQUID SMOKES

ABSTRACT Liquid smokes including mesquite, hardwood blend, hickory (aqueous), and hickory‐oil (oil‐based) were subjected to direct ether extraction; phenolic components were separated and identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A solution containing 1,250 μg/ml each of phenol, isoeugenol, o‐cresol, m‐cresol, 4‐allylsyringol, catechol, 4‐methylcatechol, 2,6‐dimethoxy‐phenol, 2‐methoxyphenol, 4‐ethylphenol, and 2,3‐dimethylphenol was injected directly or ether extracted prior to GC/MS separation for quantification of phenols in smokes and for recovery calculations. Phenol, guaiacol, syringol, and catechol in ether and ether extracted from oil were used as standards for oil‐based smoke. The total amount of phenols in the smokes was similar but the proportions of individual phenols differed. Hickory smoke contained more syringol and its derivatives (4‐allysyringol and 4‐methylsyringol) than mesquite; mesquite contained more phenol, o‐cresol, catechol and 4‐methylcatechol than hickory.