Headspace detection of ethanethiol in wine by cobalt phthalocyanine modified screen-printed carbon electrodes

The formation of thiols has a notable and detrimental sensory impact, especially in the aroma of bottled wines. Their detection in wine is of great interest to avoid important economic and image losses for wineries. This work reports the study of different cobalt phthalocyanine/nanomaterials-based sensors for the headspace detection of volatile thiols. The amperometric procedure based on the use of carbon sensors simply modified with cobalt phthalocyanine showed the best performance. Under the optimum conditions of applied potential, +0.8 V, and pH of the supporting electrolyte, 2.6, this procedure shows a reproducibility of 7% (n = 5) in terms of relative standard deviation of the slopes of calibration curves built in the concentration range from 9.9 to 82.6 μg/L, a capability of detection of 12.5 μg/L and a decision limit of 6.5 μg/L (α = β = 0.05). The use of this electrocatalytic material and the headspace measurements reduce interferents, increasing the selectivity of the procedure, which allows the easy and successful quantification of ethanethiol in white and red wines. [Display omitted] •Electrochemical detection of EtSH as model thiol has been achieved in wine.•An amperometric method based on the use of CoPh modified SPCEs have been followed.•Headspace measurements have been carried out, increasing the selectivity of the procedure.•Volatile thiols in wine lead to a significant and damaging sensory impact.•This is an environmentally friendly procedure which allows an early corrective action.