Chemical properties investigation of commercial cigarettes by a "pseudo" targeted method using GC-MS-selected ions monitoring

A "pseudo" targeted method using GC-MS-selected ions monitoring was applied to investigate the chemical characteristics of commercial cigarettes made in China and foreign countries. To identify the components and define the quantative ions for SIM acquisition, a quality control sample was analyzed using GC-MS full scan. Acquired data were treated with a homemade software. A peak table with 312 components and their related quantitation ions was achieved for SIM acquisition. Structure elucidation was performed using library searching, retention index, standard compounds, and fitted retention time. The fitted retention time was calculated by a linear correction curve obtained using measured and library retention time to verify compounds. A total of 90 compounds were elucidated. Chemical characteristics of different cigarette brands were investigated. The data acquisition was carried out in SIM mode. The principal component and the hierarchical clustering analyses showed that the Chinese domestic flue-cured cigarettes were significantly different from the domestic blended, the foreign flue-cured, and blended cigarettes. Sixty-seven differential compounds were defined using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test and the group blending samples comparison. Chinese domestic flue-cured cigarettes have higher concentration of saccharides and lower concentration of organic acids and amino acids.